Word definition: couple

Etimology


From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

noun


couple (plural couples)

Two of the same kind connected or considered together.

Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.

(informal) A small number.

One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.

(physics) A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.

(architecture) A couple-close.

That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

Examples


A couple of police officers appeared at the door.

'Tis in some sort with Friends as it is with Dogs in Couples. They should be of the same Size; and Humour; and That which Pleases the One should Please the Other

[…] couple of tables; one of which bore some preparations for supper; while, on the other […]

THE Number of Souls in the Kingdom being uſually reckon'd One million and a half; of theſe I calculate there may be about Two hundred Thouſand Couple, whoſe Wives are Breeders, from which Number I ſubſtract Thirty thouſand Couples, who are able to maintain their own Children; […]

A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle […]

‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’

When we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore […]

Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ […].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.

And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.

I’ll keep my stables where / I lodge my wife; I’ll go in couples with her;

As we passed the deserted mountain-dairy, we must have crossed the fresh track of a hare, because the hounds became rather uneasy in the couples.

Related words


synonyms

(two partners): twosome

(two things of the same kind): brace, pair; see also Thesaurus:duo

(a small number of): few, handful

adjective


couple (not comparable)

(informal, US, Canada) Two or (a) small number of.

Examples


Put any couple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas […] " He trailed off.

Since we were now living so close, at least those couple hours of talking together helped boost our spirits.

Apparently, Ann in particular liked these couple pages of the character thing.

determiner


couple

(colloquial, US, Canada) Two or a few, a small number of.

Examples


A couple fewer people show up every week.

I'll be there in a couple minutes.

Q. You say you lived upstairs? A. I lived upstairs. Q. Until when? A. About couple months we lived upstairs. Q. Up until couple months ago? A. No, couple months after we moved in there because the down stairs was not finished.

Couple boys from way downcountry come for a summer in the woods. Isaac Cole talked to em.

[At a pizza parlor] "Couple slices would be great. […]

verb


couple (third-person singular simple present couples, present participle coupling, simple past and past participle coupled)

(transitive) To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).

(transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.

(intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.

(transitive) To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.

Examples


Now the conductor will couple the train cars.

I've coupled our system to theirs.

Some gritty defence at the death, coupled with some key big moments from individual players at critical times helped secure the win as the All Blacks fought with 14 men for a big chunk of the final after a red card to captain Sam Cane.

I am just going to perform a very good office, it is to assist with the archbishop, in degrading a parson who couples all our beggars

On their wedding night they coupled nine times.

She had the brilliant inventor and craftsman Daedalus construct her an artificial cow, in which she hid and induced the bull to couple with her [...]

The Parilia was generally considered to be the best time for coupling the rams and the ewes .

Related words


synonyms

(to join together): affix, attach, put together; see also Thesaurus:join

(to join in wedlock): bewed, espouse; see also Thesaurus:marry

(to join in sexual intercourse): have sex, make love; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Data provided by Wiktionary