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couple - 6 dictionary results

cou⋅ple

[kuhp-uhl] noun, verb, -pled, -pling.
–noun
1. two of the same sort considered together; pair.
2. two persons considered as joined together, as a married or engaged pair, lovers, or dance partners: They make a handsome couple.
3. any two persons considered together.
4. Mechanics. a pair of equal, parallel forces acting in opposite directions and tending to produce rotation.
5. Also called couple-close. Carpentry. a pair of rafters connected by a tie beam or collar beam.
6. a leash for holding two hounds together.
7. Fox Hunting. two hounds: 25 hounds or 12 1/2 couple.
–verb (used with object)
8. to fasten, link, or associate together in a pair or pairs.
9. to join; connect.
10. to unite in marriage or in sexual union.
11. Electricity.
a. to join or associate by means of a coupler.
b. to bring (two electric circuits or circuit components) close enough to permit an exchange of electromagnetic energy.
–verb (used without object)
12. to join in a pair; unite.
13. to copulate.
14. a couple of, more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few: It will take a couple of days for the package to get there. Also, a couple.

Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME < AF c(o)uple, OF cople, cuple < L cōpula a tie, bond (see copula ); (v.) ME couplen < AF co(u)pler, OF copler, cupler < L copulāre (see copulate )


cou⋅ple⋅a⋅ble, adjective


The phrase a couple of has been in standard use for centuries, especially with measurements of time and distance and in referring to amounts of money: They walked a couple of miles in silence. Repairs will probably cost a couple of hundred dollars. The phrase is used in all but the most formal speech and writing. The shortened phrase a couple, without of (The gas station is a couple miles from here), is an Americanism of recent development that occurs chiefly in informal speech or representations of speech. Without a following noun, the phrase is highly informal: Jack shouldn't drive. I think he's had a couple. (Here the noun drinks is omitted.)
In referring to two people, couple, like many collective nouns, may take either a singular or a plural verb. Most commonly, it is construed as a plural: The couple were traveling to Texas. See also collective noun.
cou·ple   (kŭp'əl)   
n.  
  1. Two items of the same kind; a pair.
  2. Something that joins or connects two things together; a link.
  3. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
    1. Two people united, as by betrothal or marriage.
    2. Two people together.
  4. Informal A few; several: a couple of days.
  5. Physics A pair of forces of equal magnitude acting in parallel but opposite directions, capable of causing rotation but not translation.
v.   cou·pled, cou·pling, cou·ples

v.   tr.
  1. To link together; connect: coupled her refusal with an explanation.
    1. To join as spouses; marry.
    2. To join in sexual union.
  2. Electricity To link (two circuits or currents) as by magnetic induction.
v.   intr.
  1. To form pairs; join.
  2. To unite sexually; copulate.
  3. To join chemically.
adj.   Informal
Two or few: "Every couple years the urge strikes, to . . . haul off to a new site" (Garrison Keillor).

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cōpula, bond, pair.]
Usage Note: When used to refer to two people who function socially as a unit, as in a married couple, the word couple may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether the members are considered individually or collectively: The couple were married last week. Only one couple was left on the dance floor. When a pronoun follows, they and their are more common than it and its: The couple decided to spend their (less commonly its) vacation in Florida. Using a singular verb and a plural pronoun, as in The couple wants their children to go to college, is widely considered to be incorrect. Care should be taken that the verb and pronoun agree in number: The couple want their children to go to college. · Although the phrase a couple of has been well established in English since before the Renaissance, modern critics have sometimes maintained that a couple of is too inexact to be appropriate in formal writing. But the inexactitude of a couple of may serve a useful purpose, suggesting that the writer is indifferent to the precise number of items involved. Thus the sentence She lives only a couple of miles away implies not only that the distance is short but that its exact measure is unimportant. This usage should be considered unobjectionable on all levels of style. · The of in the phrase a couple of is often dropped in speech, but this omission is usually considered a mistake, especially in formal contexts. Three-fourths of the Usage Panel finds the sentence I read a couple books over vacation to be unacceptable; however, another 20% of the Panel finds the sentence to be acceptable in informal speech and writing.

Couple

Cou"ple\ (k?p"'l), n. [F. couple, fr. L. copula a bond, band; co- + apere, aptum, to join. See Art, a., and cf. Copula.]

1. That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler. [Obs.]

It is in some sort with friends as it is with dogs in couples; they should be of the same size and humor. --L'Estrange.

I'll go in couples with her. --Shak.

2. Two of the same kind connected or considered together; a pair; a brace. "A couple of shepherds." --Sir P. Sidney. "A couple of drops" --Addison. "A couple of miles." --Dickens. "A couple of weeks." --Carlyle.

Adding one to one we have the complex idea of a couple. --Locke.

[Ziba] met him with a couple of asses saddled. --2 Sam. xvi. 1.

3. A male and female associated together; esp., a man and woman who are married or betrothed.

Such were our couple, man and wife. --Lloyd.

Fair couple linked in happy, nuptial league. --Milton.

4. (Arch.) See Couple-close.

5. (Elec.) One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery; -- called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.

6. (Mech.) Two rotations, movements, etc., which are equal in amount but opposite in direction, and acting along parallel lines or around parallel axes.

Note: The effect of a couple of forces is to produce a rotation. A couple of rotations is equivalent to a motion of translation.

Couple

Cou"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Coupled (k?p"'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Coupling (-l?ng).] [F. coupler, fr. L. copulare. See Couple, n., and cf. Copulate, Cobble, v.]

1. To link or tie, as one thing to another; to connect or fasten together; to join.

Huntsman, I charge thee, tender well my hounds, . . . And couple Clowder with the deep-mouthed brach. --Shak.

2. To join in wedlock; to marry. [Colloq.]

A parson who couples all our beggars. --Swift.

Couple

Cou"ple\, v. i. To come together as male and female; to copulate. [Obs.] --Milton. Bacon.
Language Translation for : couple
Spanish: un par; unos cuantos, unas cuantas; unos pocos, unas pocas,
German: ein paar,
Japanese: いくつか

couple 
c.1280, from O.Fr. cople "married couple, lovers," from L. copula "tie, connection," from PIE *ko-ap-, from *ko(m)- "together" + *ap- "to take, reach." Meaning broadened 14c. to "any two things." The verb is from c.1340. Poetic couplet, a dim. form, first attested 1580.
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