A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1513, 1590-1668
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Couch, Cowch, v. Also: cuche, coutch. [ME. cowche, couche (14th c.), OF. coucher.]
1. intr. To couch, lie down. a1500 Henr. Fab. 939.
Thay couchit [B. cucheit] all efter that this wes cryde a1598 Ferg. Prov. 11 b.
Of effeminate persons [it is said] He is Iohn Thomsones man, coutching carle 1590 Burel Pilgr. i. xviii.
Than fled thay, ... Doun louching, & coutching
2. tr. To put, lay, or fix in place. 1513 Doug. vii. i. 142.
On scheip skynnys, weil spred and couchit rycht, … He strekis him adovne 1513 Ib. xi. xiv. 46.
He … with huge strenth syne dyd hym cowch and lay Befor his breist 1513 Ib. xii. vii. 119.
Hys … scheild was by his syde Cowchit full meit 1606 Birnie Kirk-b. vi. 8.
Requyring a cudgell to be coutched beside [him] 1634
Contract (Jam. s.v. Coutch).
The foirsaids lands … lyis rinrig and na vayis comodeyuslie coutchit nor laid be itself euerie man his portioun tharoff 1634
Ib.
The said lands sal be designet and coutchit be cawill 1668 Edinburgh Testaments LXXIII. 224 b.
Ane paire of plyers, tuo coutching hamers, ane litle hamer
b. In p.p. Furnished with layers of some material. 1513 Doug. v. vii. 78.
Sevyn gret oxin hydis, … Stuffyt and cowchit ful of irne and leid 1513 Ib. xii. xiv. 95.
Hys strang scheild, cowchit of sevyn ply
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"Couch v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/couch_v>
