cou·ple (k p  l)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) a. Two people united, as by betrothal or marriage. b. 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. 2. a. To join as spouses; marry. b. To join in sexual union. 3. 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 c  pula, 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 [ˈkʌpəl]
n
1. two people who regularly associate with each other or live together an engaged couple
2. (functioning as singular or plural) two people considered as a pair, for or as if for dancing, games, etc.
3. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Hunting) Chiefly hunting or coursing
a. a pair of collars joined by a leash, used to attach hounds to one another
b. two hounds joined in this way
c. the unit of reckoning for hounds in a pack twenty and a half couple
4. (Physics / General Physics) a pair of equal and opposite parallel forces that have a tendency to produce rotation with a torque or turning moment equal to the product of either force and the perpendicular distance between them
5. (Physics / General Physics) Physics
a. two dissimilar metals, alloys, or semiconductors in electrical contact, across which a voltage develops See thermocouple
b. 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. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) a connector or link between two members, such as a tie connecting a pair of rafters in a roof
a couple of (functioning as singular or plural)
a. a combination of two; a pair of a couple of men
b. Informal a small number of; a few a couple of days
pron
(usually preceded by a; functioning as singular or plural) two; a pair give him a couple
vb
1. (tr) to connect (two things) together or to connect (one thing) to (another) to couple railway carriages
2. (tr) to do (two things) simultaneously or alternately he couples studying with teaching
3. to form or be formed into a pair or pairs
4. to associate, put, or connect together history is coupled with sociology
5. (Electronics) to link (two circuits) by electromagnetic induction
6. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) (intr) to have sexual intercourse
7. to join or be joined in marriage; marry
8. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Hunting) (tr) to attach (two hounds to each other)
[from Old French: a pair, from Latin cōpula a bond; see copula]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  couple - a pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable twosome"pair - two people considered as a unit same-sex marriage - two people of the same sex who live together as a family; "the legal status of same-sex marriages has been hotly debated" |
| 2. |  couple - a pair of people who live together; "a married couple from Chicago"family unit, family - primary social group; parents and children; "he wanted to have a good job before starting a family" power couple - a couple both of whom have high-powered careers or are politically influential DINK - a couple who both have careers and no children (an acronym for dual income no kids) | |
| 3. | couple - a small indefinite number; "he's coming for a couple of days" small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity - an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude | |
| 4. |  couple - two items of the same kind fellow, mate - one of a pair; "he lost the mate to his shoe"; "one eye was blue but its fellow was brown" 2, II, two, deuce - the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number doubleton - (bridge) a pair of playing cards that are the only cards in their suit in the hand dealt to a player | |
| 5. | couple - (physics) something joined by two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics" dipole - a pair of equal and opposite electric charges or magnetic poles separated by a small distance building block, unit - a single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else; "units of nucleic acids" moment of a couple - given two equal and opposite forces, the product of the force and the distance between them | |
| Verb | 1. |  couple - bring two objects, ideas, or people together; "This fact is coupled to the other one"; "Matchmaker, can you match my daughter with a nice young man?"; "The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project"match - give or join in marriage mismate - provide with an unsuitable mate mismatch - match badly; match two objects or people that do not go together bring together, join - cause to become joined or linked; "join these two parts so that they fit together" |
| 2. | couple - link together; "can we couple these proposals?" attach - cause to be attached | |
| 3. | couple - form a pair or pairs; "The two old friends paired off" | |
| 4. | couple - engage in sexual intercourse; "Birds mate in the Spring" nick - mate successfully; of livestock bonk, do it, eff, fuck, get it on, get laid, have a go at it, have intercourse, have it away, have it off, have sex, be intimate, lie with, roll in the hay, screw, sleep together, sleep with, make love, hump, jazz, love, bed, bang, make out, know - have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?" tread - mate with; "male birds tread the females" |
couple
noun
1. pair, two, brace, span (of horses or oxen), duo, twain (archaic), twosome There are a couple of police officers standing guard.
couple something to something link to, connect to, pair with, unite with, join to, hitch to, buckle to, clasp to, yoke to, conjoin to The engine is coupled to a semiautomatic gearbox.
couple something with something combine with, accompany by, mix with, join with, unite with, compound with, amalgamate with, incorporate with, link with Overuse of these drugs, coupled with poor diet, leads to physical degeneration.
Translations
couple [ˈkʌpl]
A. N
B. VT
C. VI (Zool) → copularse
couple [ˈkʌpəl]
n
a couple of (= two) → deux
a couple of hours → deux heures (= a few) → deux ou trois
Could you wait a couple of minutes?
BUT Pourriez-vous attendre quelques minutes?.
a couple of hours → deux heures (= a few) → deux ou trois
Could you wait a couple of minutes?
BUT Pourriez-vous attendre quelques minutes?.
couple
n
(= pair) → Paar nt; (= married couple) → Ehepaar nt; courting couples → Liebespaare pl; in couples → paarweise ? happy a
(inf) a couple (= two) → zwei; (= several) → ein paar, einige; a couple of letters/friends etc, a couple letters/friends etc (US) → ein paar or einige Briefe/Freunde etc; we had a couple in the pub → wir haben in der Kneipe ein paar getrunken; a couple of times → ein paar Mal; it took a couple of minutes/hours → es hat einige or ein paar Minuten/ungefähr zwei Stunden gedauert
vt
(= link) names, circuit → verbinden; carriages etc → koppeln; smoking coupled with poor diet … → Rauchen in Verbindung mit schlechter Ernährung …
(= mate) animals → paaren
vi (= mate) → sich paaren
couple [ˈkʌpl]
couple [ˈkʌpl]
1. n (of animals, people) → coppia
a couple of times/hours/books (two or three) → un paio di volte/ore/libri
a couple of times/hours/books (two or three) → un paio di volte/ore/libri
2. vt
a. (idea, name) to couple with → associare con
b. (railway carriages) to couple (on or up) → agganciare
couple [ˈkʌpl]
1. n (of animals, people) → coppia
a couple of times/hours/books (two or three) → un paio di volte/ore/libri
a couple of times/hours/books (two or three) → un paio di volte/ore/libri
2. vt
a. (idea, name) to couple with → associare con
b. (railway carriages) to couple (on or up) → agganciare
n couple [ˈkapl]
1 two; a few Can I borrow a couple of chairs?; I knew a couple of people at the party, but not many. paar عَدَد قَليل مِن ، إثنان чифт pár, několik par; nogle ein paar δύο, μερικοί un par; unos cuantos, unas cuantas; unos pocos, unas pocas paar, mõni دوتا؛ چند تا pari, muutama (environ) deux שְּׂנֵי, שְׁתֵי दो, कुछ par, nekoliko néhány beberapa tvennt af e-u; fáeinir paio いくつか 2개 pora, keletas pāris; daži beberapa paar par, noen få para par câţiva пара pár par, nekaj par ett par, några สอง; ไม่มาก iki; birkaç 一對，一些 пара دو، كچھ hai 一对，三两个
2 a man and wife, or a boyfriend and girlfriend a married couple; The young couple have a child. egpaar, paartjie زَوْج двойка pár, dvojice ægtepar; par das Paar ζευγάρι, αντρόγυνο pareja paar زوج pariskunta couple זוּג युगल par (bračni) pár pasangan par; hjón coppia 夫婦 한 쌍의 부부 pora pāris (vīrs un sieva) pasangan paar (ekte)par para casal cuplu пара pár par par par คู่สามีภรรยา çift, karı-koca 夫妻，男女朋友 пара مياں بیوی، جوڑا đôi; cặp 夫妻，未婚夫妻
v
to join together The coaches were coupled (together), and the train set off. koppel يَقرِنُ بين شيئيْن съединявам (се) spojit forbinde; koble sammen verbinden ενώνω acoplar, enganchar kokku haakima به هم وصل کردن؛ به هم پیوستن kytkeä yhteen atteler לְהַצמִיד मिलाना, जोड़ना spariti összekapcsol merangkaikan tengja collegare つなぐ 연결하다 sukabinti, sujungti, susieti savienot pāros; sakabināt dipasangkan aaneenkoppelen sammenkople spinać juntar a cupla сцеплять spojiť spojiti (se) upariti koppla [] ทำให้เชื่อมต่อ birleştirmek 連接 з'єднувати(ся); сполучати(ся) جوڑنا، ملانا kết hợp 连接
n couplet [-lit]
two lines of verse, one following the other, which rhyme with each other. koeplet مَقْطَع شِعري مُكوَّن من بيْتَيْن двустишие dvojverší kuplet das Reimpaar δίστιχο pareado riimipaar بیت säepari distique צֶמֶד שׁוּרוֹת חֲרוּזוֹת दोहा dvostih rímes verspár kuplet tvær rímaðar ljóðlínur distico 二行連句 연결하다 rimuotas dvieilis [] divrinde ar atskaņām kuplet couplet kuplett dwuwiersz dístico cuplet; distih рифмованное двустишие dvojveršie kuplet distih rimmat verspar ร้อยกรองที่คล้องจองกันสองวรรค beyit 對句; 對聯 римований двовірш شعر، دو مصرعے (thơ) cặp câu 两行诗, 对句, 对联
n coupling
a link for joining things together The railway carriage was damaged when the coupling broke. koppeling وَصلة مَكبات السكَّة الحَديديَّه връзка připojení, spřahlo kobling die Verbindung σύνδεσμος acoplamiento, enganche sidur اتصال؛ پیوست kytkin attelage חִיבּוּר युग्मन, संयोजन spoj (össze)kapcsolás sambungan tengibúnaður agganciamento 連結 (器) 연결 장치 sankaba savienošana; savienojums; sakabe gandingan koppeling kopling łącznik acoplamento cuplare сцепка spoj spona spojnica koppling[] การเชื่อมต่อ kavrama 列車廂車鉤 зчеплення; сполучення ريل كے دو ڈبوں یا پرزوں کو جوڑنے والا کنڈا móc nối 连接器
couple → زوجان pár par Paar ζευγάρι pareja pari couple par coppia カップル 한 쌍 koppel par para casal пара par คู่ çift cặp đôi 一对夫妇
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|