couch (v.) Copy link Outline A. Intr.I. Of a wild beastII. To stoop down, esp. for concealment, as in an ambuscadeB. Trans.I. To station (in ambush)II. To level a lanceIII. To perform an operation on the eye • couch (v.): A. Intr.: I. Of a wild beast: to c. down; esp. before a spring: perh. subsido, 3: which Liv. uses of elephants sinking on their buttocks, clunibus subsidentes, 44, 5, med.: cf. Virg. A. 12, 491: "substitit Aeneas et se collegit in arma, poplite subsidens:" or sese submittere ut melius exsiliat. II. To stoop down, esp. for concealment, as in an ambuscade: subsīdo, subsĭdeo (the former referring to the act of stooping down; the latter to the being or remaining in such a position): v. STOOP DOWN, lie in wait. B. Trans.: I. To station (in ambush): in insidiis collocare, disponere, etc.: v. ambush. II. To level a lance: intendo, porrĭgo: v. to aim, stretch forth. Phr.: to receive an attack with lances c.'d, projecta hasta excipere hostem, Nep. Chab. 1: with lance c.'d, infestâ hastâ (i. e. pointed against the enemy), Liv. III. To perform an operation on the eye: perh. *suffusionem oculo demere, tollere (i. e. in any way to remove the cataract).