: something that joins or links two things together: such as
a
: two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines
b
: a pair of substances that in contact with an electrolyte (see electrolytesense 1) participate in a transfer of electrons which causes an electric current to flow
The adjective use of a couple, without of, has been called nonstandard, but it is not. In both British and American English it is standard before a word (such as more or less) indicating degree.
a couple more examples of Middle English writing Charles Barber
Its use before an ordinary plural noun is an Americanism, common in speech and in writing that is not meant to be formal or elevated.
the first couple chapters are pretty good E. B. White (letter)
still operated a couple wagons for hire Garrison Keillor
Noun “Are they a couple?” “No, they are just good friends.” Seventeen couples participated in the survey. Verb a device that makes it possible to couple the pieces The coils are loosely coupled. The wire is coupled to the terminal. It took an hour to couple the trailer to the truck. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
One of the wildfires, the El Dorado Fire, was sparked by a smoke device used by a couple to reveal their baby's gender. Stefanie Dazio, USA TODAY, 14 Sep. 2022 One of the wildfires, the El Dorado Fire, was sparked by a smoke device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender.BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2022 Men’s tennis has had an embarrassingly brilliant couple of decades. Jason Gay, WSJ, 12 Sep. 2022 Return to Seoul, directed by a Cambodian-French director Davy Chou, depicts a journey of a 22-year old woman who visits her motherland after being adopted by a French couple. Soomee Park, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Sep. 2022 Taylor might also miss a couple games because that's what running backs do. Nate Atkins, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Sep. 2022 Every day, an Australian couple is visited by some unexpected — but very welcome — guests: a group of wild lorikeets that live in the trees across from their apartment's balcony. Catherine Garcia, The Week, 8 Sep. 2022 An Atlanta couple bought the property nevertheless, hoping to fix it up and live there with their two children. Michael Warren, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2022 An adventurous couple may be attempting it at this very moment. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2022
Verb
To couple with Thatcher’s dove grey Dior dress, makeup artist Rob Rumsey opted for a melding of era inspo: the 1920s and the 1960s, plus an aura of rock ’n’ roll. Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2022 To help close the gap, White House officials have vowed to couple the bill with new regulations, including on automobile tailpipe emissions.BostonGlobe.com, 24 Aug. 2022 This leaves Phoebe Siegel to find another person to couple up with. Kimi Robinson, The Arizona Republic, 23 Aug. 2022 In the latest episode of the feel-good show's second season, host Christy Carlson Ramano helps couple Louie and Alvin, who have come to Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California, to find a pet to expand their family. Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 22 Aug. 2022 Several earlier dating apps aimed at helping conservatives couple up have failed and are now defunct. Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2022 The twist was later repeated with just one ex-couple each on both season 8 and season 9. Dalton Ross, EW.com, 3 Aug. 2022 The timing of Wheeless’ run in Arizona's 4th District may couple well with her background: The Republican Party has courted Hispanic candidates for November's midterm elections as Latinos have trended away from Democrats and toward the GOP.Fox News, 31 July 2022 The Channel 9 reality TV show is back in 2022 with its fourth season, where the contestants couple up and try to stay together while resisting the temptations of new cast members called bombshells. Alicia Vrajlal, refinery29.com, 28 July 2022
Adjective
Saturday night has a couple new offerings: the first being a new documentary on Princess Diana. Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 7 Aug. 2022 Handler, 47, shared an Instagram video Monday night of the now ex-couple celebrating their first anniversary together early, while simultaneously breaking the news of their amicable split in the caption. Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 19 July 2022 The couple high-fived one another after nailing the move. Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 30 June 2022 The Pirates sent 11 hitters to the plate, spraying the ball all over the diamond with five singles that all almost found outfield grass on the bounce, and took advantage of a couple Memorial errors to put the game seemingly out of reach early. Michael Whitlow, Journal Sentinel, 2 June 2022 Kirkconnell publicly apologized for her past behavior, and guest host Emmanuel Acho led the then ex-couple (who later reconnected) into a conversation about race. Kelly Wynne, PEOPLE.com, 9 June 2022 Lucas hit a pair of threes, and Glenn Taylor Jr. scored off a couple nice drives to fuel a 16-5 run and a 49-45 Beavers lead.oregonlive, 24 Feb. 2022 The park also has a couple new snowshoe trails, the Lake View Ridge Trail and Bluff/Canyon trail, on the northwest side of the lake, accessible off Highway 23 between Lake View Road and Pickerel Slough Road. Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 Jan. 2022 These guys made one excellent album, then a few that had a couple nice tunes on them. Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 12 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun, Verb, and Adjective
Middle English, pair, bond, from Anglo-French cuple, from Latin copula bond, from co- + apere to fasten — more at apt