Couple
adj, det, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
"A couple of police officers appeared at the door."
- 2 a pair who associate with one another wordnet
- 3 Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
"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, […]"
- 4 a pair of people who live together wordnet
- 5 A small number. informal
"A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle […]"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 (physics) something joined by two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines wordnet
- 7 One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
- 8 two items of the same kind wordnet
- 9 A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
- 10 a small indefinite number wordnet
- 11 A couple-close.
- 12 That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
"I’ll keep my stables where / I lodge my wife; I’ll go in couples with her;"
- 1 To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another). transitive
"Now the conductor will couple the train cars."
- 2 bring two objects, ideas, or people together wordnet
- 3 To join in wedlock; to marry. dated, transitive
"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"
- 4 link together wordnet
- 5 To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate. intransitive
"On their wedding night they coupled nine times."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 engage in sexual intercourse wordnet
- 7 To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating. transitive
"The Parilia was generally considered to be the best time for coupling the rams and the ewes."
- 8 form a pair or pairs wordnet
- 9 To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a single bet can be placed on any of them winning. transitive
- 1 Two or (a) small number of. Canada, US, informal, not-comparable
"Put any couple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas […]" He trailed off."
- 1 Two or a few, a small number of. Canada, US, colloquial
"A couple fewer people show up every week."
Example
More examples"On May 18, a young Japanese couple was arrested after their one-year-old baby was found wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped in a gutter."
Etymology
From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.