couple

¹cou·ple

noun
\ˈkə-pəl; “couple of” is often ˌkə-plə(v)\

Definition of COUPLE

1

a : two persons married, engaged, or otherwise romantically paired b : two persons paired together

2

: pair, brace

3

: something that joins or links two things together: as a : two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines b : a pair of substances that in contact with an electrolyte participate in a transfer of electrons which causes an electric current to flow

4

: an indefinite small number : few <a couple of days ago>

— cou·ple·dom \-dəm\ noun

Examples of COUPLE

1. “Are they a couple?” “No, they are just good friends.”
2. Seventeen couples participated in the survey.

Origin of COUPLE

Middle English, pair, bond, from Anglo-French cuple, from Latin copula bond, from co- + apere to fasten — more at apt

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to COUPLE

Synonyms: few, handful, scatter, scattering, smatter, smattering, sprinkle, sprinkling

Antonyms: army, crowd, flock, gazillion, horde, host, jillion, kazillion, legion, loads, many, mountain, multitude, oodles, scads, thousands, zillion

Related Words: minority; atom, crumb, fragment, grain, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, particle, scrap, shred, tittle, whit

Near Antonyms: majority, most; abundance, excess, plenty, surplus; deal, gobs, heap, lot, mass, much, peck, pile, plenitude, plenty, pot, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, slather, slew, stack, wad, wealth

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Other Physics Terms

amplitude, centrifugal, centripetal, convection, gradient, hysteresis, kinetic, lase, quantum

Rhymes with COUPLE

supple