Definition of 'couple'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present
tense couples
, present participle coupling
, past tense, past participle coupled
1. quantifier
If you refer to a couple of people or things, you mean two or approximately two of them, although the exact number is not important or you are not sure of it.
Across the street from me there are a couple of police officers standing guard. [+ of]
I think the trouble will clear up in a couple of days. [+ of]
...a small town a couple of hundred miles from New York City. [+ of]
...a couple weeks before the election.
I think I can play maybe for a couple more years.
Couple is also a pronoun.
I've got a couple that don't look too bad.
2. countable noun [with singular or plural verb]
The couple have no children.
...after burglars ransacked an elderly couple's home.
...an isolated spot popular with courting couples.
3. countable noun [with singular or plural verb]
A couple is two people that you see together on a particular occasion or that have some association.
...as the four couples began the opening dance.
They were an odd couple.
4. verb [usually passive]
If you say that one thing produces a particular effect when it is coupled with another, you mean that the two things combine to produce that effect.
...a problem that is coupled with lower demand for the machines themselves. [be VERB-ed + with]
Over-use of those drugs, coupled with poor diet, leads to physical degeneration. [VERB-ed]
...memories or past failures, coupled with a feeling of guilt. [VERB-ed]
5. verb [usually passive]
If one piece of equipment is coupled to another, it is joined to it so that the two pieces of equipment work together.
Its engine is coupled to a semiautomatic gearbox. [be VERB-ed + to]
The various systems are coupled together in complex arrays. [be V-ed + together]
6. See also coupling
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of 'couple'
noun
2. (functioning as singular or plural)
two people considered as a pair, for or as if for dancing, games, etc
3. mainly hunting
b.
two hounds joined in this way
4.
5. physics
a.
two dissimilar metals, alloys, or semiconductors in electrical contact, across which a voltage develops
thermocoupleb. Also called: galvanic couple
two dissimilar metals or alloys in electrical contact that when immersed in an electrolyte act as the electrodes of an electrolytic cell
6.
7. a couple of
pronoun
8. (usually preceded by a; functioning as singular or plural)
two; a pair
give him a couple
verb
9. (transitive)
to connect (two things) together or to connect (one thing) to (another)
to couple railway carriages
11.
to form or be formed into a pair or pairs
12.
to associate, put, or connect together
history is coupled with sociology
13.
16. (transitive)
to attach (two hounds to each other)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin of 'couple'
noun
1.
anything joining two things together; bond; link
3.
4. Informal
now often used with adjectival force, omitting the of
a couple cups of coffee
5. Electricity
two dissimilar metals or alloys placed in electrical contact with each other to create a galvanic or thermoelectric current; voltaic couple
6. Mechanics
two equal forces producing rotation by moving in parallel but opposite directions
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈcoupled or ˈcoupling
7.
to join together by fastening or by association; link; connect
8. Archaic
to join in marriage
9. Electricity
SIMILAR WORDS: pair
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
couple in Mechanical Engineering
(kʌpəl)Word forms: (regular plural) couples
noun
(Mechanical engineering: Mechanics and dynamics)
A couple consists of two parallel forces acting at different points on a body, often making
it rotate.
The jaws of a spanner introduce a couple acting on the nut to rotate it.
If two equal and opposite forces act so that their lines of action are a distance
apart, the result is a pure turning effort known as a couple.
A couple consists of two parallel forces acting at different points on a body, often making
it rotate.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Example sentences containing 'couple'
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content.
Read more…
This is a drama about a couple forced to split up? The Sun (2015)Think of the awe in which people hold couples who are happily married for long periods. Times, Sunday Times (2006)Outside these men a few couples danced round merrily in the usual stamping way. A BOOK OF LANDS AND PEOPLES (2003)But they said that the growing number of cohabiting couples were excluded from the picture. Times, Sunday Times (2006)They were popular with the elderly couple and their family and their employment was considered a success. Times, Sunday Times (2006)The couple split in one of the most acrimonious divorces in the business world in recent years. Times, Sunday Times (2013)But this show has undergone a weird transformation at some point in the past couple of years. The Sun (2014)It leaves another couple of items on that list. Times, Sunday Times (2014)How can the couple make their home reflect its chic location? Times, Sunday Times (2007)They began a serious relationship and as time went on the two couples grew very close. The Sun (2014)You will see us become a consumer bank within the next couple of years. Times, Sunday Times (2009)It also raises a couple of other queries. The Sun (2008)The couple lived in a room furnished only with a heap of straw. Times, Sunday Times (2014)The couples are played at full pelt by the finest actors in town. Times, Sunday Times (2012)The effect on the couple in the bed was instantaneous. The Sun (2013)So couples demand luxury and space to help them relax there. Times, Sunday Times (2012)The pair practised a couple of courts apart yesterday. Times, Sunday Times (2011)Thankfully in the last couple of weeks the walks have been a bit shorter! The Sun (2009)The area the couple are looking at is known for its good schools. The Sun (2006)Some close at noon for a couple of hours and then reopen until sunset. Umbria - the green heart of Italy (1989)You could just pay couples to stay together. Times, Sunday Times (2007)We went to couple counselling but things got worse. The Sun (2010)They have tried a couple of attacks either to capture me or to kill me. Times, Sunday Times (2014)QA familiar face returns to the wards of Holby City in a couple of weeks! The Sun (2008)
Trends of 'couple'
Very Common. couple is one of the 4000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary
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Translations for 'couple'
British English: couple
/ˈkʌpl/ NOUN
A couple is two people who are married or who are having a romantic relationship.
The couple have four children.
- American English: couple
- Arabic: زَوْجَان
- Brazilian Portuguese: casal
- Chinese: 一对夫妇
- Croatian: par
- Czech: pár
- Danish: par
- Dutch: koppel stelletje
- European Spanish: pareja par
- Finnish: pari
- French: couple
- German: Paar
- Greek: ζευγάρι
- Italian: coppia
- Japanese: カップル
- Korean: 한 쌍
- Norwegian: par
- Polish: para
- European Portuguese: casal
- Romanian: cuplu
- Russian: пара
- Spanish: pareja dos personas, animales o cosas
- Swedish: par
- Thai: คู่
- Turkish: çift
- Ukrainian: пара
- Vietnamese: cặp đôi
British English: couple /ˈkʌpl/ DETERMINER
A couple of people or things means two or around two of them.
Things should get better in a couple of days.
- American English: couple
- Arabic: بَعْض
- Brazilian Portuguese: alguns
- Chinese: 两个
- Croatian: par
- Czech: párněkolik
- Danish: par
- Dutch: een paar
- European Spanish: par
- Finnish: pari, muutama
- French: deux ou trois
- German: ein paar
- Greek: δύο
- Italian: paio
- Japanese: 二つ/二人くらい
- Korean: 둘의
- Norwegian: par
- Polish: kilka
- European Portuguese: par
- Romanian: câțiva
- Russian: пара
- Spanish: par
- Swedish: par
- Thai: คู่
- Turkish: birkaç
- Ukrainian: два
- Vietnamese: cặp đôi
British English: couple VERB
If you say that one thing produces a particular effect when it is coupled with another, you mean that the two things combine to produce that effect.
...a problem that is coupled with lower demand for the machines themselves.
Nearby words of 'couple'
Related Terms of 'couple'
Source
Definition of couple from the
Collins English Dictionary
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