culch

culch

or cultch  (kŭlch)
n.
1. A natural bed for oysters, consisting of gravel or crushed shells to which the oyster spawn may adhere.
2. The spawn of the oyster.
3. New England Clean trash or rubbish, such as string, paper, and cloth: "We always had a culch box around" (New Hampshire informant in DARE).
4. A person or thing not highly regarded.

[Perhaps ultimately from Old French culche, couch; see couch.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

culch

(kʌltʃ) or

cultch

n
1. (Zoology) a mass of broken stones, shells, and gravel that forms the basis of an oyster bed
2. (Zoology) the oyster spawn attached to such a structure
3. dialect refuse; rubbish
[C17: perhaps ultimately from Old French culche bed, couch]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

culch

- Rubbish or refuse, or meat scraps.
See also related terms for rubbish.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
For example, North et al., (2008) allowed oyster larvae to settle only in grids containing culch, a known inducer of oyster larval settlement (Tamburri et al., 1996).
"He knew the value of shell as culch and he knew that without shell, there could be no more Hayes Oyster.
A week of meditation and gardening practice with Wendy Johnson, Head Gardener at the Green Culch Zen Center, listening and learning from the earth as we cultivate the gardens of the Center and the garden of our lives.