See Also: couple(medicine)
couple(1)(dictionary)
couple(2)(dictionary)
couple(encyclopedia)
Concordant couple(health)
Discordant couple(health)
couple-close(dictionary)
couple 1, noun(dictionary)
couple 2, verb(dictionary)

couple(2) (iou)



couple verb. ME.
[Old French copler, cupler (mod. coupler) from Latin copulare COPULATE.]
I. verb trans.
gen. Fasten or link (two things) together or together; fasten or link (one thing) to another; join, connect. ME.
Pope Measuring syllables and coupling rhymes. Shelley My young lambs coupled two by two With willow bands.
b. Chemistry. Cause to combine chemically with, esp. with the elimination of a simple molecule. E20.
Join or link (immaterial things), associate in thought or speech, (together, with or to something else). ME.
W. H. Dixon A man who coupled acts with words. Saki Their names had naturally been coupled in the match-making gossip of the day. R. V. Jones The background of the Grenadiers coupled with seven years in the O.T.C.
a. Join in marriage or sexual union (together, to). ME-M18.
Swift A parson who couples all our beggars.
b. Mate (animals); mate (one animal) with another. E18.
Bring (persons) together or together in pairs or as companions or partners; pair (one person) with another, attach (one person) to another. Formerly also, match or engage as opponents in a contest. LME.
Wordsworth See Latimer and Ridley in the might Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight.
Tie or fasten (hunting dogs) together in pairs or as a pair; pair (one dog) with or attach (one dog) to another by a leash etc. LME.
P. Drabble Coupling young hounds to their elders and betters.
Connect (one thing) to another for joint or coordinated operation; esp. connect (one group of pipes in an organ) to another by means of a coupler. E19.
Connect (railway vehicles together, one railway vehicle to another) by a coupling. M19.
C. Jackson When her Pullman had finally been coupled between two cars of the new train. P. Theroux The engine was being coupled to the coach.
Bring about a coupling between (oscillating systems, subatomic particles, etc.); in pass., interact with, be physically or causally connected to. Cf. COUPLING 4. L19.
Scientific American The predatory adaptation of the lynx meant that the populations of both caribou and arctic hares were tightly coupled to the snowshoe hare population.
Physics. Cause to pass, transfer, (into, out of). L20.
Physics Bulletin The energy is coupled out of the laser using a..beam divider.
II. verb intrans.
= COPULATE 2. LME.
Come together in a pair; join with another as a companion. Formerly also, engage (with another) in a contest. L15.
Be able or intended to be coupled (with, to, etc.). M20.
Nature One arm..couples directly into the Hersch cell.