couple

American  

[kuhp-uhl] / ˈkʌp əl /

noun

• couples
  plural

1. two of the same sort considered together; pair.

2. two persons considered as joined together, as a married or engaged pair, lovers, or dance partners.

   They make a handsome couple.

3. any two persons considered together.

4. Mechanics. a pair of equal, parallel forces acting in opposite directions and tending to produce rotation.

5. Also called couple-close. Carpentry. a pair of rafters connected by a tie beam or collar beam.

6. a leash for holding two hounds together.

7. Fox Hunting. two hounds.

   25 hounds or 12½ couple.

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verb (used with object)

• couples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coupled,
  past participle,  past
• coupling
  present participle

1. to fasten, link, or associate together in a pair or pairs.

2. to join; connect.

3. to unite in marriage or in sexual union.

4. Electricity.

   1. to join or associate by means of a coupler.

   2. to bring (two electric circuits or circuit components) close enough to permit an exchange of electromagnetic energy.

verb (used without object)

• couples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coupled,
  past participle,  past
• coupling
  present participle

1. to join in a pair; unite.

2. to copulate.

idioms

1. a couple of, more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few: Also a couple.

   It will take a couple of days for the package to get there.

   A dinner party, whether for a couple of old friends or eight new acquaintances, takes nearly the same amount of effort.

couple British  

/ ˈkʌpəl /

noun

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. hunting

   1. a pair of collars joined by a leash, used to attach hounds to one another

   2. two hounds joined in this way

   3. the unit of reckoning for hounds in a pack

      twenty and a half couple

4. 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

   1. two dissimilar metals, alloys, or semiconductors in electrical contact, across which a voltage develops See thermocouple

   2. 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. a connector or link between two members, such as a tie connecting a pair of rafters in a roof

7. (functioning as singular or plural)

   1. a combination of two; a pair of

      a couple of men

   2. informal a small number of; a few

      a couple of days

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pronoun

1. (usually preceded by a; functioning as singular or plural) two; a pair

   give him a couple

verb

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. to link (two circuits) by electromagnetic induction

6. (intr) to have sexual intercourse

7. to join or be joined in marriage; marry

8. (tr) to attach (two hounds to each other)

Grammar

The phrase a couple of, meaning “a small number of; a few; several,” has been in standard use for centuries, especially with measurements of time and distance and in referring to amounts of money: They walked a couple of miles in silence. Repairs will probably cost a couple of hundred dollars. The phrase is used in all but the most formal speech and writing. The shortened phrase a couple, without of ( The gas station is a couple miles from here ), is an Americanism of recent development that occurs chiefly in informal speech or representations of speech, especially when followed by number terms (as a couple dozen eggs ) or units of measurement (as a couple years ago; a couple gallons of gas ). This use of couple (as an adjective or modifier) is still disliked by many. Without a following noun, a couple is even more informal: Jack shouldn't drive. It's clear he's had a couple. (Here the noun drinks is omitted.) In referring to two people, couple, like many collective nouns, may take either a singular or a plural verb. Most commonly, it is construed as a plural: The couple were traveling to Texas. See also collective noun.

Synonym Usage

See pair ¹

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coupleable
  adjective
• intercouple
  adjective
• well-coupled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• couples
  plural

Participles

• coupling
  present
• coupled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• couple
  simple
• couples
  simple
• have coupled
  perfect
• has coupled
  perfect
• am coupling
  progressive
• are coupling
  progressive
• is coupling
  progressive
• have been coupling
  perfect progressive
• has been coupling
  perfect progressive

Past

• coupled
  simple
• had coupled
  perfect
• was coupling
  progressive
• were coupling
  progressive
• had been coupling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will couple
  simple
• will have coupled
  perfect
• will be coupling
  progressive
• will have been coupling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of couple

First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English, from Anglo-French c(o)uple, Old French cople, cuple, from Latin cōpula “a tie, bond” ( see copula); (verb) Middle English couplen, from Anglo-French co(u)pler, Old French copler, cupler, from Latin copulāre ( see copulate)

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Explanation

If you are hanging out with a couple of friends, you are hanging out with two friends. A couple is a pair or a twosome. As a verb, couple means "to pair or match." As a noun, couple means "a pair." If two people are dating, you can refer to them as "a couple." Similarly, two people who are married can be called a "married couple." Two guys playing basketball can be called "a couple of guys playing basketball." As a verb, couple means "to pair or combine," as people on a dance floor might couple or form pairs when the music starts. You can also couple two ideas by combining them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

couple couples coupled coupling

The couple placed a “do not disturb” sign on their door as they left, according to Boucher.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

One time a married couple who were staying for a week brought their two big German shepherds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

The couple spent the next decade designing and creating an English Baroque-inspired manor they call Wayside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

"Ben's kind of still undergoing a couple of checks before we update on timelines," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

I need to finish a couple of sketches for my portfolio and study for my chem test on Monday.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Both couples faced questions like: Who is this person I married or how am I responding to who they are at this moment?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

For vendors and appointments, it helps couples identify relevant options and coordinate next steps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

After both couples performed their routines again, the judges delivered their verdicts on who they wanted to save.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

For years, I sat at kitchen tables with couples in their 20s and early 30s who had a car payment, credit-card debt and kids they wanted to send to college one day.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

The tension dispelled as the two couples took small, pensive bites of their different servings.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

The sharp rise in short-dated Treasury yields coupled with a decline in long-dated ones after Wednesday’s September consumer-price inflation print suggest that risk sentiment is fragile, the chief rates strategist says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

This, coupled with a strong dollar, has prompted investors to pull money from emerging markets such as India in search of higher returns in dollar assets.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

"We have captured for the first time how electronic changes associated with proton transfer are coupled to reorganization of the surrounding solvent," said Biasin.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Mazariegos said Inside Safe is a start, but it doesn’t replace permanent housing and should be coupled with additional resources.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Yes, she did. For the better part of an hour, I’m afraid. Your daughter’s voice is quite shrill, and coupled with her early-rising habits...”

From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko

People pay a premium for iPhones because they perceive value in the tight coupling of hardware, software and apps inside Apple’s ecosystem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

“Asmodeus” is a bewildering incantation about the coupling of poetry and squalor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Until this series, the opening coupling had always seen the men choose first.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Under the conditions of the experiment, a typical OPA would have produced coupling of approximately 100 percent.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

And I had done many of the things she might have done: I had engineered a most unlikely prom coupling.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

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