virtuous couch

virtuous couch (plural virtuous couches)

1. One's bed, viewed as a place for sleeping, as opposed to a place for illicit sex.
   • 1882, George Finley, The German Or European Carp, page 103:

     It was on the sunny side of the island and the reflection from the surface of these fish was a sight seldom seen. Their rich deep-toned olive green bodies, marked with a dark rich umber brown, and their golden white bellies, as they rolled and contorted on "their virtuous couch," was a treat in color none could fail to enjoy, but as the course of true love never did run smooth on terra firma, neither did it here appear to have immunity from the outside interferences of the eunious and predaceous in the presence of hundreds of that "cuss."

   • 1885, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford., A Passive Crime and Other Stories, page 238:

     […] at nine precisely Lady Janet rose from her couch and declared her intention of seeking her maid forthwith and the virtuous couch that was to follow on that damsel's administrations.

   • 2003, Nyle H. Miller, Joseph W. Snell, Why the West was Wild, page 594:

     Mr. P. Sughrue, the night watchman, , happened around about this stage of the game and took charge of the gun, when the party broke up and each retired to his virtuous couch.

   • 2015, A. Bertram Chandler, Alternate Orbits:

     There's a lot to be said for spaceships. They don't pitch and roll. When you're in your virtuous couch you're not slung out of it.