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.
Couple is also a determiner in spoken American English, and before 'more' and 'less'.
Couple is also a pronoun.
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.
4. verb [usually passive]
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.
6. See also coupling
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
couple in British English
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
See 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
7. See 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
C13: from Old French: a pair, from Latin cōpula a bond; see copulaWord Frequency
couple in American English
(ˈkʌpəl) (verb -pled, -pling)
noun
1.
two of the same sort considered together; pair
2.
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
6.
a leash for holding two hounds together
7. Hunting
two hounds
25 hounds or 121⁄2 couple
8. See a couple of
transitive verb
USAGE 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.9.
to fasten, link, or associate together in a pair or pairs
10.
to join; connect
11.
to unite in marriage or in sexual union
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
coupleable adjective
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 COBUILD Key Words for Mechanical Engineering. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Examples of 'couple' in a sentence
couple
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In other languages
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 /ˈkʌpəl/
- 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
- Latin American Spanish: pareja dos personas, animales o cosas
- Swedish: par
- Thai: คู่รัก, สามีภรรยา
- Turkish: çift
- Ukrainian: пара
- Vietnamese: cặp đôi
British English: couple
/ˈkʌpl/ NOUN
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 /ˈkʌpəl/
- 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
- Latin American Spanish: par
- Swedish: par
- Thai: คู่, สอง
- Turkish: birkaç
- Ukrainian: два
- Vietnamese: cặp đôi
British English: couple
VERB /ˈkʌpl/
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.
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Definition of couple from the Collins English Dictionary
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