coup
1a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment.
(among the Plains Indians of North America) a brave or reckless deed performed in battle by a single warrior, as touching or striking an enemy warrior without sustaining injury oneself.
Idioms about coup
count coup, (among Plains Indians of North America)
to perform a coup.
to recount or relate the coups one has performed.
Origin of coup
1Words Nearby coup
Other definitions for coup (2 of 2)
to overturn; upset.
Origin of coup
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use coup in a sentence
President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti claims he survived a coup attempt on Sunday.
To stop the coup they feared, the left was ready to flood the streets.
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election | Molly Ball | February 4, 2021 | TimeThailand, where the military remains in power after a successful coup in 2014, will be only too happy to continue trade with Myanmar.
Myanmar pulled the plug during a military coup d’état this weekend, as Aaron noted in yesterday’s newsletter.
Myanmar: How repressive regimes quash dissent with Internet shutdowns | Robert Hackett | February 2, 2021 | FortuneWhere there’s a coup, there will probably be an internet outage.
As it happened, the coup members found the State House “fortified with additional soldiers.”
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTMost coup members “lived in the diaspora in the United States and Germany,” Faal said.
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThat Stone would slander the democratic, pro-Western, EuroMaidan revolution as a CIA coup is no surprise.
Perhaps in part because it was an FBI coup, the CIA stepped in with its high-priced psychologist.
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built | Michael Daly | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHad the coup succeeded, the Qatar problem might have become still worse than it is.
Le lendemain matin, un coup de vent l'emporta tout seul dehors de la chaloupe dans les vagues, et jamais depuis, n'est apparu.
My coup-d'œil assured me that it was practicable to give to this feature the character of a projecting under-jaw.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuOn ne peut arracher tout d'un coup les coutumes & faons de faire inveteres d'un peuple quel que ce soit.
Calm under fire, he possessed a sure and penetrating coup d'œil; he had great experience in war.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonConstantinople serait directement menacé par ce coup retentissant.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian Hamilton
British Dictionary definitions for coup (1 of 3)
/ (kuː) /
a brilliant and successful stroke or action
short for coup d'état
Origin of coup
1British Dictionary definitions for coup (2 of 3)
to turn or fall over
a rubbish tip
Origin of coup
2British Dictionary definitions for coup (3 of 3)
/ (kaʊp) /
Scot to barter; traffic; deal
Origin of coup
3Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for coup
[ (kooh) ]
In politics, an abbreviation for coup d'état.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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