coach

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to teach and supervise someone

   act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports

2. 2
   noun

   A wheeled vehicle, generally pulled by a horse.

   I have a coach waiting. During intermission, would you consent to accompany me for a cooling ride around the city?

3. 3
   noun

   A trainer or instructor.

   football coach

4. 4
   noun

   The forward part of the cabin space under the poop deck of a sailing ship; the fore-cabin under the quarter deck.

   The commanders all came on board and the council sat in the coach.

5. 5
   noun

   The part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; the economy section.

   We couldn't afford the good tickets, so we spent the flight crammed in coach.

6. 6
   verb

   To instruct; to train.

   She has coached many opera stars.

7. 7
   verb

   To travel in a coach (sometimes coach it).

   Affecting genteel fashions, coaching it to all quarters

8. 8
   verb

   To convey in a coach.

   The needy poet sticks to all he meets, Coached, carted, trod upon, now loose, now fast. And carried off in some dog's tail at last

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi. According to historians, the coach was named after the small Hungarian town of Kocs, which made a livelihood from cart building and transport between Vienna and Budapest. The meaning “instructor/trainer” is from Oxford University slang (c. 1830) for a “tutor” who “carries” one through an exam; the athletic sense is from 1861.