coupling

Noun

coupling (countable and uncountable, plural couplings)

1. The act of joining together to form a couple.
   • It is the first British yard in which every activity of hump marshalling, except for the driving of the hump locomotive and the uncoupling and coupling of wagons, is fully automatic or drastically simplified by modern aids.1960 June, “Talking of trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323
2. A device that couples two things together.
3. The degree of reliance between two or more software modules.
   • The lack of coupling means that the elements of our system are better isolated from each other and from change. This isolation makes it easier to understand each element of the system.2009, Robert C. Martin, chapter 10, in Clean Code, Prentice Hall, →ISBN, page 150

   Synonyms:

   dependency

4. A connection between two electronic circuits such that a signal can pass between them.
5. The property of physical systems that they are interacting with each other
6. An act of sexual intercourse.
   • The biggest film of March 1992 was “Basic Instinct,” an erotic thriller featuring an established movie star in explicit onscreen couplings with a sexy up-and-comer.2022 March 20, Jason Bailey, “‘Basic Instinct’ at 30: A Time Capsule That Can Still Offend”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   aphrodisia, carnal knowledge, coitus, coition, commerce, commixtion, congress, conjunction, connection, consummation

7. A link between the performance of an action and the location where that action occurs or the method used to perform that action.
   • It seems just as likely, though, that it simply never occurred to him to think about crime as something so tightly tied to place. Literary theorists and bridge engineers and police chiefs struggle with coupling.2019, Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, page 342