noun
couple
KUHP-uhl
noun
1
Two people who are in a romantic relationship or married.
"The couple next door just got engaged."
"They've been a happy couple for over a decade."
2
A small, unspecified number of things or people — roughly two or a few.
"I only need a couple of minutes to finish this."
"There are a couple of typos on this page."
verb
1
To join or connect two things together.
"The engineers coupled the two rail cars together."
"This app couples your calendar with your task list."
How to Use Couple
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTwo of something (especially a romantic pair), or loosely, "a few" of something; as a verb, to link two things together.
Common mistake
"A couple of" technically means around two, but in casual speech people often stretch it to mean "a few" — this is normal and widely accepted.
Common pairings
a couple of
a young couple
couple up
married couple
Word Forms
coupled past tense, couples plural, couples singular
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The _____ next door just got engaged.
Etymology
From Old French couple, from Latin copula meaning "a bond" or "tie" — the same root that gives us "copula" and "coupling."