coupon
Americannoun
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coupons
plural
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a portion of a certificate, ticket, label, advertisement, or the like, set off from the main body by dotted lines or the like to emphasize its separability, entitling the holder to something, as a gift or discount, or for use as an order blank, a contest entry form, etc.
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a separate certificate, ticket, etc., for the same purpose.
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Finance. one of a number of small detachable certificates calling for periodic interest payments on a bearer bond.
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Metallurgy. a sample of metal or metalwork submitted to a customer or testing agency for approval.
noun
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a detachable part of a ticket or advertisement entitling the holder to a discount, free gift, etc
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a detachable slip usable as a commercial order form
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a voucher given away with certain goods, a certain number of which are exchangeable for goods offered by the manufacturers
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one of a number of detachable certificates attached to a bond, esp a bearer bond, the surrender of which entitles the bearer to receive interest payments
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one of several detachable cards used for making hire-purchase payments
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a ticket issued to facilitate rationing
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a detachable entry form for any of certain competitions, esp football pools
Pronunciation
Coupon, related to cope and coup, is of French origin. It has developed an American pronunciation variant with an unhistorical y -sound not justified by the spelling. This pronunciation is used by educated speakers and is well-established as perfectly standard, although it is sometimes criticized. Its development may have been encouraged by analogy with words like curious, cupid, and cute, where c is followed by a “long u ” and the is mandatory.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of coupon
1815–25; < French; Old French colpon piece cut off, equivalent to colp(er) to cut ( see cope 1) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A coupon is a certificate or a voucher that lets you buy something at a discounted price. When you hand the cashier your coupon, he will subtract some amount from your total bill. You can cut coupons out of a newspaper, get them in the mail, or find them online. A restaurant coupon might offer a free beverage when you buy dinner, and a grocery store coupon could give you a five dollar savings on your dog's favorite kind of kibble. The original coupons were used by Coca Cola in the late 1800s — they were vouchers for a free Coke, and they're credited with spreading the soft drink's popularity across the United States.
Vocabulary lists containing coupon
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A Wayfair coupon helped me score two fancy bath mats at a steep markdown.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
I’m also holding on to a Crate & Barrel coupon from the change-of-address packet in case there’s something I need later.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Treasury is expected to boost its near-term borrowing projection when it releases its financing estimates next week but leave coupon auction sizes unchanged, Goldman Sachs analysts say in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
This skepticism comes despite MicroStrategy aggressively issuing more than $10 billion of the stock in less than a year, a spree that forced it to hike the coupon seven times to a hefty 11.5%.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Then one day, a week before Halloween, I saw it amongst the catalogs and bills and coupon flyers.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
This year, however, I gave it a chance and found that the coupons inside could actually be useful.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The problem is that if the Fed lets underlying inflation rise, this will end up hurting longer-term bonds, because the real inflation-adjusted value of future coupons will fall.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Another woman brought a Ziplock bag full of old coupons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Customers can use their expired coupons until July 13.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
“Why can’t we just go to Applebee’s and use two coupons instead of one?”
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
