Dictionary

couch grass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈkaʊt͡ʃˌɡɹæs/ (General-American)
• /ˈkuːt͡ʃɡɹɑːs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A grass of species Elymus repens, usually considered a weed.
   • The roots of plants, disengaged from the soil in the process of tilling and cleaning it, are also employed as a vegetable manure. Some of these, however, as the couch grass, being very vivacious, would readily spring again: and therefore it is necessary that their vegetative powers be destroyed, which may be done by mixing them with lime, and forming in this way a compost. Many farmers, however, to save time, or to prevent the risk of the plants springing again, burn them in little heaps upon the ground at the time of their being collected, and spread the ashes upon the surface. This may be sometimes convenient, but the effect is, that the principal nutritive part of the plant is dissipated, and nothing left but the carbonaceous, earthy, and other insoluble matter. —Low's Elements of Practical Agriculture. 1841, Jesse Buel, The Farmers' Instructor. Consisting of Essays, Practical Directions, and Hints for the Management of the Farm and the Garden. Originally Published in the Cultivator; Selected and Revised for the School District Library, volume 1, Harper and Brothers, page 134:
   • The old couple who had lived there hadn't been able to do much and the garden was a wilderness of couch-grass and dandelion. 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 82:
   • But the trouble was pervasive and deep-rooted as couch-grass. 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 145:

Forms

Deriveds

sea couch grass

Synonyms

quackgrass · dog grass · twitch · witchgrass · quicken · scutch grass · quitch grass · quick grass · quitch

Translations (68)

sco couch gress (species of grass) · sl plazeča pirnica (species of grass) · csb prôwdzëwô òszoc (species of grass) · wa påne (species of grass) · sk pýr (species of grass) · ast grama (species of grass) · az sürünən ayrıqotu (species of grass) · fi juolavehnä (species of grass) · fa بیدگیا (species of grass) · pl perz (species of grass) · fr chiendent (species of grass) · mi herewhenua (species of grass) · la agrōstis (species of grass) · gl rengo (species of grass) · oc agram (species of grass) · nap falasca (species of grass) · es grama (species of grass) · cs pýr (species of grass) · mn хиаг (species of grass) · wa dint-d'-tchén (species of grass) · da kvik (species of grass) · lv ložņu vārpata (species of grass) · sq krisje (species of grass) · xal әәрү (species of grass) · br treuzgeot (species of grass) · eu askiluze (species of grass) · be пы́рнік (species of grass) · cy marchwellt (species of grass) · fo víðgongdur kveiki (species of grass) · ja シバムギ (species of grass) · uk пирі́й (species of grass) · is húsapuntur (species of grass) · hu tarackbúza (species of grass) · os бырӕг (species of grass) · lt paprastasis varputis (species of grass) · da kvikgræs (species of grass) · nb kveke (species of grass) · rm trebla (species of grass) · de Kriech-Quecke (species of grass) · nl kweek (species of grass) · ga broimfhéar (species of grass) · it gramigna (species of grass) · bg пълзящ пирей (species of grass) · de Quecke (species of grass) · qu ch'iki qachu (species of grass) · udm ожмонтурын (species of grass) · ko 구주개밀 (species of grass) · da senegræs (species of grass) · ca agram (species of grass) · dsb pyrje (species of grass) · el αγριάδα (species of grass) · tr ayrık otu (species of grass) · fa مرغ (species of grass) · sq gram (species of grass) · frr kweg (species of grass) · izh orasrooho (species of grass) · ckb فریزوو (species of grass) · ru пыре́й (species of grass) · fa فرزد (species of grass) · izh orasheinä (species of grass) · sv kvickrot (species of grass) · ary نْجم (species of grass) · vec gramegna (species of grass) · eo kviko (species of grass) · mk пиреј (species of grass) · kmr firiz (species of grass) · vo (syn.: Triticum repens) kripatritig (species of grass) · gl grama (species of grass)