couple
Part of speech: noun
adj
det
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: architecture
hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
natural-sciences
pets
physical-sciences
physics
racing
sports
Etymology: From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.
Inflected forms:
form: couples
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: copel
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: copel
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: copel
pos: det
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: couples
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: coupling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: coupled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: coupled
pos: verb
tags: past
form: copel
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
pos: noun
examples: A couple of police officers appeared at the door.
'Tis in some sort with Friends (Pardon the Coarseness of the illustration) 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 […]
gloss: Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
pos: noun
examples: The number of Souls in the Kingdom being uſually reckon'd one Million and a half, Of theſe I calculate there may be about tvvo hundred thouſand Couple vvhoſe VVives are Breeders, from vvhich Number I Subſtract thirty Thouſand Couples, vvho are able to maintain their ovvn Children, […]
Having a beloved couple (Jim and Pam, Cory and Topanga) exchange vows was once a foolproof way to juice TV ratings.
gloss: A small number.
pos: noun
tags: informal
examples: 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.
gloss: One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
pos: noun
gloss: A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
pos: noun
gloss: A couple-close.
pos: noun
gloss: That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: Two or (a) small number of.
pos: adj
tags: Canada
US
informal
not-comparable
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.
gloss: Two or a few, a small number of.
pos: det
tags: Canada
US
colloquial
examples: A couple fewer people show up every week.
I'll be there in a couple minutes.
Q. (Mr. Feldman, atty) You say you lived upstairs? A. (Emma Moore) 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. […]
gloss: To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Now the conductor will couple the train cars.
I've coupled our system to theirs.
The familiarly pleasant smell of fried burgers couples with the piquant scent of fishsauce out here among the tables where diners feed like sharks from paper-lined baskets heaped with fries.
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.
gloss: To join in wedlock; to marry.
pos: verb
tags: dated
transitive
examples: 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
gloss: To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: 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 […]
gloss: To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The Parilia was generally considered to be the best time for coupling the rams and the ewes.
gloss: To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a single bet can be placed on any of them winning.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
Synonyms: pair
attach
put together
espouse
make love
Derived words: active couple
argue like a married couple
argue like an old married couple
bicker like a married couple
bicker like an old married couple
bridal couple
coupla
couple-beggar
couple-close
coupledom
couplehood
couple-ish
couple-three
couple three
couple up
coupley
couplezilla
couplish
couply
dual career couple
dual earner couple
fight like a married couple
fight like an old married couple
galvanic couple
have a couple
in a couple of shakes
incouple
intercouple
married couple
medcouple
noncouple
odd couple
power couple
Romeo and Juliet couple
supercouple
thermocouple
throuple
voltaic couple
accouple
couplable
coupling
coupling rod
decouple
decoupled
outcouple
recouple
uncouple
Translations: