couple

noun

1. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.

   “A couple of police officers appeared at the door.”

   “'Tis in some sort with Friends (Pardon the Coarseness of the illustration) as it is with Dogs in Couples. They should be of the same Size; and Humour; and That which Pleases the One should Please the Other”

   “[…]couple of tables; one of which bore some preparations for supper; while, on the other […]”

2. Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.

   “The number of Souls in the Kingdom being uſually reckon'd one Million and a half, Of theſe I calculate there may be about tvvo hundred thouſand Couple vvhoſe VVives are Breeders, from vvhich Number I Subſtract thirty Thouſand Couples, vvho are able to maintain their ovvn Children, […]”

3. (informal)A small number.

   “A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle […]”

   “‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’”

   “When we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore[…]”

   “Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’[…].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.”

   “And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.”

4. One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
5. A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
6. A couple-close.
7. That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

   “I’ll keep my stables where / I lodge my wife; I’ll go in couples with her;”

   “As we passed the deserted mountain-dairy, we must have crossed the fresh track of a hare, because the hounds became rather uneasy in the couples.”

adj

1. (Canada, US, informal, not-comparable)Two or (a) small number of.

   “Put any couple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas […]" He trailed off.”

   “Since we were now living so close, at least those couple hours of talking together helped boost our spirits.”

   “Apparently, Ann in particular liked these couple pages of the character thing.”

det

1. (Canada, US, colloquial)Two or a few, a small number of.

   “A couple fewer people show up every week.”

   “I'll be there in a couple minutes.”

   “Q. (Mr. Feldman, atty) You say you lived upstairs? A. (Emma Moore) I lived upstairs. Q. Until when? A. About couple months we lived upstairs. Q. Up until couple months ago? A. No, couple months after we moved in there because the down stairs was not finished.”

   “Couple boys from way downcountry come for a summer in the woods. Isaac Cole talked to em.”

   “[At a pizza parlor] "Couple slices would be great. […]”

verb

1. (transitive)To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).

   “Now the conductor will couple the train cars.”

   “I've coupled our system to theirs.”

   “The familiarly pleasant smell of fried burgers couples with the piquant scent of fishsauce out here among the tables where diners feed like sharks from paper-lined baskets heaped with fries.”

   “Some gritty defence at the death, coupled with some key big moments from individual players at critical times helped secure the win as the All Blacks fought with 14 men for a big chunk of the final after a red card to captain Sam Cane.”

2. (dated, transitive)To join in wedlock; to marry.

   “I am just going to perform a very good office, it is to assist with the archbishop, in degrading a parson who couples all our beggars”

3. (intransitive)To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.

   “On their wedding night they coupled nine times.”

   “She had the brilliant inventor and craftsman Daedalus construct her an artificial cow, in which she hid and induced the bull to couple with her […]”

4. (transitive)To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.

   “The Parilia was generally considered to be the best time for coupling the rams and the ewes.”

5. (transitive)To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a single bet can be placed on any of them winning.