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View synonyms for coup

coup

1

[ koo ]

noun

, plural coups [kooz, koo].
  1. a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment.
  2. (among the Plains Indians of North America) a brave or reckless deed performed in battle by a single warrior, as touching or striking an enemy warrior without sustaining injury oneself.


coup

2

[ kohp, koop ]

verb (used with or without object)

, Scot.
  1. to overturn; upset.

coup

1

/ kaʊp /

verb

  1. to barter; traffic; deal


coup

2

/ kuː /

noun

  1. a brilliant and successful stroke or action
  2. short for coup d'état

coup

3

/ kaʊp /

verb

  1. to turn or fall over

noun

  1. a rubbish tip

coup

  1. In politics, an abbreviation for coup d'état .


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Word History and Origins

Origin of coup1

First recorded in 1640–50; from French: literally, “a blow, stroke,” Old French colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus, from Greek kólaphos

Origin of coup2

First recorded in 1350–1400; likely originally a variant of cope

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Word History and Origins

Origin of coup1

C14: from Old Norse kaupa to buy

Origin of coup2

C18: from French: blow, from Latin colaphus blow with the fist, from Greek kolaphos

Origin of coup3

C15: perhaps identical with obsolete cope to strike; see cope 1

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. count coup, (among Plains Indians of North America)
    1. to perform a coup.
    2. to recount or relate the coups one has performed.

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Example Sentences

As it happened, the coup members found the State House “fortified with additional soldiers.”

Most coup members “lived in the diaspora in the United States and Germany,” Faal said.

That Stone would slander the democratic, pro-Western, EuroMaidan revolution as a CIA coup is no surprise.

Perhaps in part because it was an FBI coup, the CIA stepped in with its high-priced psychologist.

Had the coup succeeded, the Qatar problem might have become still worse than it is.

Le lendemain matin, un coup de vent l'emporta tout seul dehors de la chaloupe dans les vagues, et jamais depuis, n'est apparu.

My coup-d'œil assured me that it was practicable to give to this feature the character of a projecting under-jaw.

On ne peut arracher tout d'un coup les coutumes & faons de faire inveteres d'un peuple quel que ce soit.

Calm under fire, he possessed a sure and penetrating coup d'œil; he had great experience in war.

Constantinople serait directement menacé par ce coup retentissant.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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