Couch vs. Spell

Couchnoun

An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person.

Spellnoun

Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.

‘He cast a spell to cure warts.’;

Couchnoun

A bed, a resting-place.

Spellnoun

A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.

‘under a spell’;

Couchnoun

A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.

Spellnoun

(obsolete) Speech, discourse.

Couchnoun

(brewing) A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.

‘a couch of malt’;

Spellnoun

A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour.

Couchnoun

, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed.

Spellnoun

(informal) A definite period (of work or other activity).

Couchverb

To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose).

Spellnoun

(colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.

Couchverb

(archaic) To lie down for concealment; to conceal, to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly or secretly.

Spellnoun

A period of rest; time off.

Couchverb

To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.

Spellnoun

A period of illness, or sudden interval of bad spirits, disease etc.

Couchverb

(transitive) To lay something upon a bed or other resting place.

Spellnoun

(cricket) An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by a single bowler.

Couchverb

(transitive) To arrange or dispose as if in a bed.

Spellnoun

(dialectal) A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk.

Couchverb

(transitive) To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.

Spellnoun

The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.

Couchverb

(transitive) To lower (a spear or lance) to the position of attack.

Spellverb

To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.

Couchverb

In the treatment of a cataract in the eye, to displace the opaque lens with a sharp object such as a needle. The technique is regarded as largely obsolete.

Spellverb

(obsolete) To speak, to declaim.

Couchverb

To transfer (for example, sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire mould to a felt blanket for further drying.

Spellverb

(obsolete) To tell; to relate; to teach.

Couchverb

To attach a thread onto fabric with small stitches in order to add texture.

Spellverb

To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.

Couchverb

To phrase in a particular style; to use specific wording for.

‘He couched it as a request, but it was an order.’;

Spellverb

To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word.

Couchverb

To lay upon a bed or other resting place.

‘Where unbruised youth, with unstuffed brain,Does couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.’;

Spellverb

(intransitive) To be able to write or say the letters that form words.

‘I find it difficult to spell because I'm dyslexic.’;

Couchverb

To arrange or dispose as in a bed; - sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.

‘The waters couch themselves as may be to the center of this globe, in a spherical convexity.’;

Spellverb

(transitive) Of letters: to compose (a word).

‘The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.’;

Couchverb

To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.

‘It is at this day in use at Gaza, to couch potsherds, or vessels of earth, in their walls.’;

Spellverb

To indicate that (some event) will occur.

‘This spells trouble.’;

Couchverb

To transfer (as sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for further drying.

Spellverb

To clarify; to explain in detail.

‘Please spell it out for me.’;

Couchverb

To conceal; to include or involve darkly.

‘There is all this, and more, that lies naturally couched under this allegory.’;

Spellverb

To constitute; to measure.

Couchverb

To arrange; to place; to inlay.

Spellverb

(transitive) To work in place of (someone).

‘to spell the helmsman’;

Couchverb

To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; - used with in and under.

‘A well-couched invective.’; ‘I had received a letter from Flora couched in rather cool terms.’;

Spellverb

(transitive) To rest (someone or something), to give someone or something a rest or break.

‘They spelled the horses and rested in the shade of some trees near a brook.’;

Couchverb

To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract.

‘He stooped his head, and couched his spear,And spurred his steed to full career.’;

Spellverb

To rest from work for a time.

Couchverb

To lie down or recline, as on a bed or other place of rest; to repose; to lie.

‘Where souls do couch on flowers, we 'll hand in hand.’; ‘If I court moe women, you 'll couch with moe men.’;

Spellnoun

A spelk, or splinter.

Couchverb

To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.

‘We 'll couch in the castle ditch, till we see the light of our fairies.’; ‘The half-hidden, hallf-revealed wonders, that yet couch beneath the words of the Scripture.’;

Spellnoun

The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or watching; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spell at the pumps; a spell at the masthead.

‘A spell at the wheel is called a trick.’;

Couchverb

To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.

‘An aged squireThat seemed to couch under his shield three-square.’;

Spellnoun

The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks.

‘Nothing new has happened in this quarter, except the setting in of a severe spell of cold weather.’;

Couchnoun

A bed or place for repose or sleep; particularly, in the United States, a lounge.

‘Gentle sleep . . . why liest thou with the vileIn loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch?’; ‘Like one that wraps the drapery of his couchAbout him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.’;

Spellnoun

One of two or more persons or gangs who work by spells.

‘Their toil is so extreme that they can not endure it above four hours in a day, but are succeeded by spells.’;

Couchnoun

Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.

Spellnoun

A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell.

Couchnoun

A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley; as, couch of malt.

Spellnoun

A story; a tale.

Couchnoun

A preliminary layer, as of color, size, etc.

Spellnoun

A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm.

‘Start not; her actions shall be holy asYou hear my spell is lawful.’;

Couchnoun

an upholstered seat for more than one person

Spellverb

To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman.

Couchnoun

a flat coat of paint or varnish used by artists as a primer

Spellverb

To tell; to relate; to teach.

‘Might I that legend find,By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes.’;

Couchnoun

a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment

Spellverb

To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.

‘He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot.’;

Couchverb

formulate in a particular style or language;

‘I wouldn't put it that way’; ‘She cast her request in very polite language’;

Spellverb

To constitute; to measure.

‘The Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect.’;

Couchnoun

a long upholstered piece of furniture for several people to sit on

‘I sat in an armchair and they sat on the couch’;

Spellverb

To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography.

‘The word "satire" ought to be spelled with i, and not with y.’;

Couchnoun

a reclining seat with a headrest at one end on which a psychoanalyst's subject or doctor's patient lies while undergoing treatment

‘the child was lying on the examination couch’;

Spellverb

To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; - usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible.

‘To spell out a God in the works of creation.’; ‘To sit spelling and observing divine justice upon every accident.’;

Couchnoun

a coarse grass with long creeping roots, which can be a serious weed in gardens.

Spellverb

To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing.

‘When what small knowledge was, in them did dwell,And he a god, who could but read or spell.’;

Couchverb

express (something) in language of a specified style

‘the assurances were couched in general terms’;

Spellverb

To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study.

‘Where I may sit and rightly spellOf every star that heaven doth shew,And every herb that sips the dew.’;

Couchverb

lay down

‘two fair creatures, couched side by side in deepest grass’;

Spellnoun

a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation

Couchverb

lower (a spear) to the position for attack

‘To arms! cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quiv'ring lance’;

Spellnoun

a time for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else);

‘it's my go’; ‘a spell of work’;

Couchverb

treat (a cataract) by pushing the lens of the eye downwards and backwards, out of line with the pupil.

Spellnoun

a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition;

‘he was here for a little while’; ‘I need to rest for a piece’; ‘a spell of good weather’; ‘a patch of bad weather’;

Couchverb

(in embroidery) fix (a thread) to a fabric by stitching it down flat with another thread

‘gold and silver threads couched by hand’;

Spellnoun

a verbal formula believed to have magical force;

‘he whispered a spell as he moved his hands’; ‘inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese’;

Couch

A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, futon, or chesterfield (see Etymology below), is a piece of furniture for seating two or three people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench, with upholstered armrests, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions.

Spellverb

recite the letters of or give the spelling of;

‘How do you spell this word?’;

Spellverb

indicate or signify;

‘I'm afraid this spells trouble!’;

Spellverb

write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word);

‘He spelled the word wrong in this letter’;

Spellverb

place under a spell