▪ I. couching, vbl. n.
(ˈkaʊtʃɪŋ)
[f. couch v.1 + -ing1.]
1. The action of couch v.1, in various senses.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §29 Thanne wol the..lyne merydional of thyn astrolabie lye evene sowth..so that thow werke softly and avisely in the cowchyng. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. lviii. 10 By reason of the crabbed couching of them [words] together, there is some darknesse. 1578 Banister Hist. Man. i. 37 Deeper concauities, for the couchyng in of the..heades of the bones. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 36 These couchings, and these lowly courtesies. 1743 in Doran ‘Mann’ & Manners (1876) I. vi. 165 A Quack Oculist..performed no one cure except couching. 1833 Sir C. Bell Hand (ed. 3) 170 When surgeons perform the operation of couching. 1876 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) IV. 267 Malting consists of four processes—steeping, couching, flooring, and kiln-drying. |
2. Embroidery. Couched work: see couch v.1 4 b.
| 1882 Dict. Needlework s.v. Couching, Ancient Church needlework was profusely decorated with Couchings. 1884 Mrs. Harrison in Harper's Mag. Aug. 346/1 ‘Laid-work’, or ‘couching’, as seen in the grounds of..old embroideries. |
† 3. concr. Bedding; litter. Obs.
| 1727 Philip Quarll 254 He lays the Couching which he made for the Beast, by his own Bed. |
4. attrib.
| 1611 Bible Ezek. xxv. 5 A couching place for flocks. 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue iii. 293 Th' wofull Mother, on her Couching-Settle. 1748 tr. Vegetius' Distemp. Horses 151 You shall put in the couching Instrument..between the Coats of the Eye. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude xiv. 4, I left Bethgelert's huts at couching-time. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts III. 490 (Paper Manuf.) The two rollers following the dandy..are termed couching-rollers, from their performing a similar operation..to the business of the coucher..They are simply wooden rollers covered with felt. |
▪ II. ˈcouching, ppl. a.
That couches: see the verb.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 153 A couching Lyon, and a ramping Cat. 1816 L. Hunt Rimini ii. 215 The couching sun Levels his final look through shadows dun. |