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couple

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:couplé

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishcouple, fromOld Frenchcouple, fromLatincōpula.Doublet ofcopula.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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couple (pluralcouples)

Aparrotcouple.
  2. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
    Acouple of police officers appeared at the door.
    • 1692,Roger L'Estrange,Fables, of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists: with Morals and Reflexions‎[3], page64:
      'Tis in some sort withFriends (Pardon the Coarseness of the illustration) as it is withDogs inCouples. They should be of the same Size; and Humour; and That which Pleases the One should Please the Other
    • 1839,Charles Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby:
      […]couple of tables; one of which bore some preparations for supper; while, on the other[…]
  3. Twopartners in aromantic orsexualrelationship.
  5. (informal) A small number.
    Coordinate term:handful
    • 1838 March –1839 October,Charles Dickens,The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London:Chapman and Hall, […], published1839,→OCLC:
      Acouple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle[…]
    • 1891,Arthur Conan Doyle,The Adventure of the Red-Headed League:
      ‘Oh, merely acouple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’
    • 1902,A. Henry Savage Landor,Across Coveted Lands‎[4]:
      When we got on board again after acouple of hours on shore[…]
    • 1913,Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, inMr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London:D[aniel] Appleton and Company,→OCLC:
      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 acouple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.
    • 1959,Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, inThe Unknown Ajax:
      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 acouple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
  6. One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called avoltaic couple orgalvanic couple.
  7. (physics) A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
  8. (architecture) Acouple-close.
  9. That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
    • c.1610–1611 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II,(please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
      I’ll keep my stables where / I lodge my wife; I’ll go incouples with her;
    • 1886,Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad,Folk and Fairy Tales, page27:
      As we passed the deserted mountain-dairy, we must have crossed the fresh track of a hare, because the hounds became rather uneasy in thecouples.

Usage notes

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  • A traditional and still broadly accepted usage ofcouple is as a noun followed by "of" to mean "two", as in "a couple of people". In this usage, "a couple of" is equivalent to "a pair of".
  • The very widespread use of the same expression (e.g. "a couple of people") to mean any small number is often considered informal but is in fact very old and often considered unobjectionable on all levels of style, sometimes even contradictorily by the same publication that labels this use as informal elsewhere on the same page, e.g.The American Heritage Dictionary.[1]
    The farm isa couple of miles off the main highway [= a few miles away].
    We’re going out to a restaurant witha couple of friends [= a few friends].
    Waita couple of minutes [= a few minutes].
  • Couple ora couple is also used informally and formally as an adjective or determiner (see definition below) to mean "a few", in which case it is not followed by "of", although many usage manuals advise against this widespread use.The Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out that this use before a word indicating degree is standard in both US and UK English (e.g. "a couplemore examples"),[2] though in the UK, it is chiefly limited to pronouns indicating degree (e.g. "put a couplemore in"). However, its use before an ordinary plural noun is generally considered North American, which the dictionary explains is "common in speech and in writing that is not meant to be formal or elevated". This use is especially frequent with numbers, time, and other measurements, such as "a couple hundred", "a couple minutes", and "a couple dozen".[2]

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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two partners
two of the same kind considered together
a small number of
one of the pair of plates in a voltaic battery
two forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, thus creating the turning effect of a torque or moment

Adjective

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couple (notcomparable)

  1. (informal, US, Canada)Two or (a) small number of.
    • 2005, Deirdre Savoy,Body of Truth, page179:
      Put anycouple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas[…]" He trailed off.
    • 2005, Elaine Bonzelaar,Those First Two Years, page47:
      Since we were now living so close, at least thosecouple hours of talking together helped boost our spirits.
    • 2006, Eric Nolen-Weathington, George A. Khoury, Arthur Adams,Modern Masters: Arthur Adams, volume six, page22:
      Apparently, Ann in particular liked thesecouple pages of the character thing.

Determiner

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couple

  1. (colloquial, US, Canada)Two ora few, a small number of.
    Coordinate terms:a few,several,various
    Acouple fewer people show up every week.
    I'll be there in acouple minutes.
    • 1922, “Lewis J. Bennett et al vs. Sebastien L. Petrino”, inState of New York Supreme Court Appellate Division - Fourth Department:
      Q. (Mr. Feldman, atty) You say you lived upstairs? A. (Emma Moore) I lived upstairs. Q. Until when? A. Aboutcouple months we lived upstairs. Q. Up untilcouple months ago? A. No,couple months after we moved in there because the down stairs was not finished.
    • 2007, Jeffrey Lent,Lost Nation‎[5], page182:
      Couple boys from way downcountry come for a summer in the woods. Isaac Cole talked to em.
    • 2011, Elizabeth Eulberg,Prom and Prejudice‎[6]:
      [At a pizza parlor] "Couple slices would be great.[…]

Verb

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couple (third-person singular simple presentcouples,present participlecoupling,simple past and past participlecoupled)

  1. (transitive) Tojoin (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).
    Now the conductor willcouple the train cars.
    I'vecoupled our system to theirs.
    • 2023 October 28, Leighton Koopman, “YES!!! The Springboks beat the All Blacks to win another Rugby World Cup title”, inIndependent Online‎[7]:
      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.
  2. (transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.
    • 1801,Jonathan Swift,The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 14‎[8], page59:
      I am just going to perform a very good office, it is to assist with the archbishop, in degrading a parson whocouples all our beggars
  3. (intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; tocopulate.
    • 1987, Alan Norman Bold, Robert Giddings,Who was really who in fiction, Longman:
      On their wedding night theycoupled nine times.
    • 2001, John Fisher, Geoff Garvey,The rough guide to Crete,, page405:
      She had the brilliant inventor and craftsman Daedalus construct her an artificial cow, in which she hid and induced the bull tocouple with her[…]
  4. (transitive) To cause (two animals) tocopulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
    • 1890, James George Frazer,The Golden Bough, volume 2, page328:
      The Parilia was generally considered to be the best time forcoupling the rams and the ewes.
  5. (horse racing, transitive) To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a singlebet can be placed on any of them winning.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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to join together

References

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  1. ^[1]
  2. ↑2.02.1[2]

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited fromOld Frenchcouple, fromVulgar Latin*cōpla, fromLatincōpula.Doublet ofcopule.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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couple m (pluralcouples)

  1. twopartners in aromantic orsexualrelationship
    Jean et Amélie forment un jolicouple. ―Jean and Amélie make a cutecouple.
  2. (physics) a forcecouple; apure moment
  3. (mathematics) anordered pair

Noun

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couple f (pluralcouples)

  1. (animal husbandry) anaccessory used to tightlyattach twoanimals next to each other by theneck
  2. (regional) apair of something
  3. (North America) acouple of something, not to be mistaken as afew
    • 1999,Chrystine Brouillet,Les Fiancées de l'Enfer,→ISBN, page200:
      Je veux une pause pour unecouple de jour.
      I need a pause for acouple days.

Related terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed fromOld Frenchcouple, fromLatincōpula.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkuːpəl/,/ˈkuːplə/,/ˈku-/

Noun

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couple (pluralcouples orcouple)

  1. Agroup of two(especiallylivingbeings; neverthree or more as in modern English):
    1. Acouple; two peoplejoined inmarriage.
    2. Abreedingpair; twoanimals to bebred with each other.
  2. Alead ortie linked to twodogs torestrain them.
  3. Aunit of measure for(especially dried)fruits.
  4. (architecture) One of two opposing roof beams(or the two as a pair)
  5. (rare)Sexual intercourse; the act ofsex.
Derived terms
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Descendants
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References
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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couple

  1. alternative form ofcouplen

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromVulgar Latin*copla, fromLatincōpula.

Noun

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coupleoblique singular, f (oblique pluralcouples,nominative singularcouple,nominative pluralcouples)

  1. couple (two things)
  2. sexualliaison

Usage notes

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  • Occasionally used as a masculine noun (le couple)

Descendants

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