Coach Meaning
/kəʊtʃ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA wheeled vehicle, generally pulled by a horse.
nounA passenger car, either drawn by a locomotive or part of a multiple unit.
Sentence Examples
A fanatic threw a bomb at the king's coach.
A good coach trains this team.
The team coach singled out two players for special praise.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The basketball ____ yelled instructions from the sideline during the final minute of the game.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The team ____ gave us a very motivating speech before the match.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I have a coach waiting. During intermission, would you consent to accompany me for a cooling ride around the city?"
— 1989 February 12, Jennifer Justice, “A Night At The Opera”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 30, page 9:
"The commanders all came on board and the council sat in the coach."
— 1660 May 12 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 3rd, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC:
"Affecting genteel fashions, coaching it to all quarters"
— 1653, Edward Waterhouse, A humble Apologie for Learning and Learned Men:
"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"
— 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The basketball ____ yelled instructions from the sideline during the final minute of the game.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The team ____ gave us a very motivating speech before the match.