couple
2 ENTRIES FOUND:
plural
couples
plural
couples
Britannica Dictionary definition of COUPLE
[count]
1
:
two people who are married or who have a romantic or sexual relationship
-
a happily married couple
-
“Are they a couple?” “No, they are just good friends.”
-
Seventeen couples participated in the survey.
-
The romance had gone out of their relationship, so they signed up for couples therapy. [=therapy in which a psychologist helps couples solve problems with their relationships]
2
:
two people or things that are together
:
pair
— usually used in the phrase in couples
-
The people were lined up in couples.
a couple
informal
1
:
two or a few of something
-
Can you give me a couple more examples?
-
This one costs a couple less dollars than that one.
◊ In informal U.S. English, a couple can be used like a couple of before a plural noun.
-
I lost interest in the book after a couple chapters.
-
We owned a couple dogs.
-
We stopped for a couple drinks after work.
◊ It is often used with periods of time and numbers.
-
I saw the movie a couple nights ago.
-
We met a couple years ago.
-
I took a couple weeks off.
-
a couple hundred people
-
a couple dozen
2
:
two or a few
-
“How many drinks have you had?” “Oh, just a couple.”
a couple of
:
two of or a few of
:
two (things) or a few (things)
-
It happened a couple of days ago. [=two days ago]
-
I only had a couple of sips.
-
Can you loan me a couple of dollars?
-
I have a couple of favorite restaurants I go to.
-
I'll be ready in a couple of minutes. [=I'll be ready soon]
-
Our schedule is booked solid for the next couple of weeks. [=for the next two weeks]
-
They've lost the last/previous couple of games.
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They are breaking up after eight years of coupledom. [=after eight years of being a couple]
2
couple
/ˈkʌpəl/
verb
couples;
coupled;
coupling
2
couple
/ˈkʌpəl/
verb
couples;
coupled;
coupling
Britannica Dictionary definition of COUPLE
[+ object]
1
:
to join (two things) together
:
connect
-
a device that makes it possible to couple the pieces
-
The coils are loosely/tightly coupled.
2
:
to join (something) to something else
:
connect
-
The wire is coupled to the terminal.
-
It took an hour to couple the trailer to the truck.
couple with
[phrasal verb]
couple (something) with (something)
:
to join or combine (something) with (something else)
— usually used as (be) coupled with
-
The exhibit couples poems with paintings.
-
An oil spill coupled with [=combined with, together with] strong winds brought disaster.
-
The team's win, coupled with a loss by their rivals, put them in first place.
-
The company manufactures trailer couplers. [=couplings, hitches]
