decouple

American  

[dee-kuhp-uhl] / diˈkʌp əl /

verb (used with object)

decoupled, decoupling

1. to cause to become separated, disconnected, or divergent; uncouple.

2. to absorb the shock of (a nuclear explosion).

   a surrounding mass of earth and rock can decouple a nuclear blast.

3. Electronics. to loosen or eliminate the coupling of (a signal between two circuits).

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verb (used without object)

decoupled, decoupling

1. to separate or diverge from an existing connection; uncouple.

decouple British  

/ ˌdiːˈkʌpəl /

verb

1. (tr) to separate (joined or coupled subsystems) thereby enabling them to exist and operate separately

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Other Word Forms

• decoupler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of decouple

First recorded in 1595–1605; de- + couple

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decouple decoupled decoupling

“The Catcher in the Rye” is a text that is flatly impossible to decouple from its author: A book about trauma written in the midst of trauma by a traumatized man.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

It is impossible to decouple the Dodgers’ success from what it could mean for the sport’s future.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Ahead of boarding the plane on Tuesday night, Merz said Germany would continue its broader de-risking policy but that, "it would be a mistake for us to seek to decouple ourselves from China".

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

They also make Microsoft less reliant on OpenAI, limiting the damage should the pair decouple in the future.

From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026

The longer the blackout continues, the more market action continues to decouple from fundamentals and turn toward narrative-driven flows and momentum on unwarranted fundamentals.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 11, 2025

Stocks have decoupled from oil prices; S&P 500 fell over 1.4%, and the Nasdaq is down around 3%.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Nvidia is addressing that with its own CPU chip that it will sell decoupled from GPU systems for the customers who prefer that option.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

“Home shoppers in search of value and views latched on to the scenic state, fueled by a remote-work revolution that decoupled high-paying salaries from coastal urban hubs.” she says.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026

"Their mobility costs are decoupled from international oil markets."

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026

What made the scheme novel was that for the first time it decoupled a test moratorium from all other disarmament issues, thereby removing the major cause of the deadlock between the two countries.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

The result is an awkward kind of decoupling for crypto bulls.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026

The discovery may also help explain another puzzling hallmark of aging called "protein-transcript decoupling."

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

"Any delusion of full decoupling isn't realistic on any near-term horizon", she told AFP.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

This is certainly a far cry from the optimistic globalism of 30 years ago, but it may be the only way forward that avoids a complete, chaotic decoupling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

Finally, they go, it will accept decoupling and modulation.

From The Belgian Curtain Europe after Communism by Vaknin, Samuel