Collins English-English Dictionary

couple ['k^p^əl]

1. 1. n two people who regularly associate with each other or live together

   an engaged couple

2. 2. n galvanic couple two dissimilar metals or alloys in electrical contact that when immersed in an electrolyte act as the electrodes of an electrolytic cell

3. 3. n [functioning as singular or plural] two people considered as a pair, for or as if for dancing, games, etc

4. 4. n [chiefly hunting or coursing] a pair of collars joined by a leash, used to attach hounds to one another

5. 5. n two hounds joined in this way

6. 6. n the unit of reckoning for hounds in a pack

   twenty and a half couple

7. 7. n 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

8. 8. n [physics] two dissimilar metals, alloys, or semiconductors in electrical contact, across which a voltage develops - See thermocouple

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

10. 10. pron [usually preceded by a; functioning as singular or plural] two; a pair

    give him a couple

11. 11. vt. [tr] to connect (two things) together or to connect (one thing) to (another)

    to couple railway carriages

12. 12. vt. [tr] to do (two things) simultaneously or alternately

    he couples studying with teaching

13. 13. vt. to form or be formed into a pair or pairs

14. 14. vt. to associate, put, or connect together

    history is coupled with sociology

15. 15. vt. to link (two circuits) by electromagnetic induction

16. 16. vi. [intr] to have sexual intercourse

17. 17. vi. to join or be joined in marriage; marry

18. 18. vt. [tr] to attach (two hounds to each other)

19. 19. vt. [Etymology] C13: from Old French: a pair, from Latin copula a bond; see copula