couch fellow (kouchfel"o)

A bedfellow; a companion in lodging. [Rare.] couch-gra (kouch' gras), n. [Also cooch-, cutch-gra ; a corruption of quitch - gra : see quitch.] 1. The popular name of Triticum re pens, a species of gra which infests arable land as a troublesome weed. It is perennial, and propagated both by seed and by its creeping rootstock, which is long and jointed. It spreads over a field with great rapidity, and, because of its tenacity of life, is eradicated with difficulty. The root contains sugar, and has been used as a diuretic. 2. The stoloniferous variety of fiorin, Agros tis alba. Black couch-gra . Same as black bent, Alopecurus agrestis. couching1 (kou'ching), n. [Verbal n. of couch1, v.] 1. The act of stooping or bowing. These couchings and these lowly courtesies. Shak ., J. C., iii. 1. 2. In surg., an operation in cases of cataract, consisting in the removal of the opaque crystalline lens out of the axis of vision by means of a needle: now rarely practised. Persuaded the king to submit to the then unusual operation of couching , and succeeded in restoring sight to one of his eyes. Pre scott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 3. In malting, the spreading of malt to dry after steeping. See couch1, v. t., 3.-4. In paper making, the removal of the flake of pulp from the mold on which it is formed to a felt.-5. A kind of embroidery in which silk, gold thread, or the like is laid upon the surface of the foundation instead of being drawn through it. In plain couching the threads or cords are simply laid side by side, covering the whole width of the leaf, flower, couching or other figure, and fastened down by stitches of finer material. Raised couching is made by sewing twine or similar material to the ground, and then laying the embroidery-silk upon it, producing a pattern in relief. Bas ket couching is a raised couching in which the texture of basket-work is imitated. Diamond couching and diagonal couching are made by laying threads flo -silk or chenille side by side, and holding them down by threads of different material, in stitches which form a diamond pattern or zigzags; the angles of this pattern are some times marked by a spangle or other glittering object. the lines of scallop-shells. In spider couching and wheel Shell couching is similar, stitches that hold it taking couching the stitches form radiating lines resembling the spokes of a wheel or the radii of a cobweb. couching2 (kou'ching), n. [Verbal n. of couch2, v.] In agri., the operation of clearing land from couch-gra .