couplet

American  

[kuhp-lit] / ˈkʌp lɪt /

noun

• couplets
  plural

1. a pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme and are of the same length.

2. a pair; couple.

3. Music. any of the contrasting sections of a rondo occurring between statements of the refrain.

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couplet British  

/ ˈkʌplɪt /

noun

1. two successive lines of verse, usually rhymed and of the same metre

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couplet Cultural  

1. A pair of lines of verse that rhyme. Some poems, such as “The Night Before Christmas,” are written entirely in couplets:

   `Twas the night before Christmas , when all through the house

   Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

   The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

   In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• couplets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of couplet

From Middle French, dating back to 1570–80; see origin at couple, -et

Explanation

A couplet is two lines of poetry that usually rhyme. Here's a famous couplet: "Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow." The couplet above comes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is a play, not a poem. But Shakespeare often used rhyming couplets at the end of scenes to signal the ending. Couplets are very common in poetry. Often whole poems are written in couplet form — two lines of rhyming poetry, followed by two more lines with a different rhyme, and so on. Robert Frost, one of America's great poets, wrote many poems using couplets.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

couplet couplets

The countryish “Run Away” opens with the couplet “In the time of confession / In the hour of the storm,” as Beck, sounding dejected and lost, begs not to be left alone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Whether we are talking about 24 hours or a millennium, it is as chilling a rhymed couplet of stated political intent as one could envision.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024

“My heart stopped beating long ago / It pours out like a river,” one couplet goes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2024

“And perhaps the sun blows kisses to the moon as it departs/they work two separate shifts with one beating heart” is a representative couplet from Hal’s verse.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

Billy found the couplet so comical that he not only laughed—he shrieked.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

By zeroing in on specifics, Mr. Ross arrives at many phrases and couplets that are appearing in a song for the first time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

She planned to hang traditional Chinese couplets -- usually on auspicious red paper -- before sharing a family meal.

From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026

On Chinese social media, pictures show some users sticking couplets or upside down pictures of Malfoy's signature smirk.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026

There are, in fact, some rather disturbing rhymed couplets, if you will.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024

I hated the very idea of the eighteenth century, with all those smug men writing tight little couplets and being so dead keen on reason.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

Related Words

• verse