— coupleable , adj.
/kup"euhl/ , n. , v. , coupled, coupling .
n.
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. Mech. 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 12 1 / 2 couple.
8. a couple of , more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few: It will take a couple of days for the package to get there. Also, a couple .
v.t.
9. to fasten, link, or associate together in a pair or pairs.
10. to join; connect.
11. to unite in marriage or in sexual union.
12. Elect.
a. to join or associate by means of a coupler.
b. to bring (two electric circuits or circuit components) close enough to permit an exchange of electromagnetic energy.
v.i.
13. to join in a pair; unite.
14. to copulate.
[ 1175-1225; (n.) ME c ( o ) uple, OF cople, cuple copula a tie, bond (see COPULA); (v.) ME couplen co ( u ) pler, OF copler, cupler copulare (see COPULATE) ]
Usage . The phrase A COUPLE OF 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. Without a following noun, the phrase is highly informal: Jack shouldn't drive. I think 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 .