cpl

Noun

couple (plural couples)

1. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
   • A couple of police officers appeared at the door.

   Synonyms:

   brace

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, […]1729, [Jonathan Swift], A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, Dublin: […]...

   Synonyms:

   twosome

3. (informal) A small number.
   • A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle […]1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   few, handful

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.

See all 14 meanings of couple