Coach Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms coach American [kohch] / koʊtʃ /

noun

1. a large, horse-drawn, four-wheeled carriage, usually enclosed.

2. a public motorbus.

3. Railroads. day coach.

4. Also called air coach. a class of airline travel providing less luxurious accommodations than first class at a lower fare.

5. a person who trains an athlete or a team of athletes.

   a football coach.

6. a private tutor who prepares a student for an examination.

   Synonyms: preceptor, mentor

7. a person who instructs an actor or singer.

8. Baseball. a playing or nonplaying member of the team at bat who is stationed in the box outside first or third base to signal instructions to and advise base runners and batters.

9. Nautical. an after cabin in a sailing ship, located beneath the poop deck, for use especially by the commander of the ship.

10. a type of inexpensive automobile with a boxlike, usually two-door, body manufactured in the 1920s.

11. mobile home.

verb (used with object)

1. to give instruction or advice to in the capacity of a coach; instruct.

   She has coached the present tennis champion.

verb (used without object)

1. to act as a coach.

2. to go by or in a coach.

adverb

1. by coach or in coach-class accommodations.

   We flew coach from Denver to New York.

coach British / kəʊtʃ /

noun

1. a vehicle for several passengers, used for transport over long distances, sightseeing, etc

2. a large four-wheeled enclosed carriage, usually horse-drawn

3. a railway carriage carrying passengers

4. a trainer or instructor

   a drama coach

5. a tutor who prepares students for examinations

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to give tuition or instruction to (a pupil)

2. (tr) to transport in a bus or coach

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• coachability noun
• coachable adjective
• coacher noun
• outcoach verb (used with object)
• overcoach verb
• uncoachable adjective
• uncoached adjective
• well-coached adjective

Etymology

Origin of coach

First recorded in 1550–60; 1840–50 for sense “tutor”; earlier coche(e), from Middle French coche, from German Kotsche, Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi, short for kocsi szekér “cart of Kocs,” town on the main road between Vienna and Budapest; senses referring to tutoring from the conception of the tutor as one who carries the student through examinations

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"I have played many positions. I always try and give the best of myself and do what the coach asks," he said on the eve of the City game.

From BBC

Hall of Fame high school football coach Bob Johnson, who turned El Toro and Mission Viejo into powerhouse high school football programs and became one of the winningest coaches in state history, has died.

From Los Angeles Times

“The City dominated back in the day,” Bryant, now the head coach at Palisades, said Tuesday before Southern California Regional Division II boys’ basketball final.

From Los Angeles Times

Michael Chang never planned to get into coaching, but Learner Tien’s team reached out and they turned out to be a remarkably good fit.

From Los Angeles Times

Mason ended his seven-year coaching career at Spurs last summer to take over at West Brom, but he was sacked by the Championship club in January.

From BBC

Related Words

• mentor
• teacher
• trainer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.