# couching

Pronunciation: say "KOW-ching" /ˈkaʊt͡ʃɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle and gerund of couch. — present participle and gerund of couch.
   - Simple: Present participle of couch. Use this form for an ongoing action, often after a form of "to be."
   - _The minister was couching his refusal in carefully diplomatic language._
   - _Couching the complaint as a suggestion made it far easier to hear._

## Noun

2. The action of laying material or an object flat onto a surface, or of lying down in place.
   - Simple: The act of laying something down flat, or of lying down to rest.
   - _The couching of the thatch required steady, overlapping layers along the roof._
   - _A gentle couching of the patient onto the stretcher avoided any further injury._
3. A method of embroidery in which threads or other materials are laid on the surface of the fabric and stitched down, rather than drawn through it.
   - Simple: A way of sewing where threads are laid on top of the cloth and held down with small stitches, not pulled through.
   - _The medieval altar cloth featured elaborate couching in silver-wrapped thread._
   - _By using couching, the embroiderer kept the costly silk on the surface where it caught the light._
4. An early, now largely abandoned, method of treating a cataract in which a sharp instrument displaces the clouded lens within the eye.
   - Simple: An old way of treating a clouded eye lens by pushing it aside with a sharp tool.
   - _Before modern surgery, couching offered the only relief for those blinded by cataracts._
   - _The surgeon performed couching with a slender needle, sliding the lens downward and out of view._

## Origin

From Middle English "couchynge," formed from "couch" plus the suffix "-ing."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/couching (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).