- present participle of couple.
coupling
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that couples.
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Machinery.
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a device for joining two rotating shafts semipermanently at their ends so as to transmit torque from one to the other.
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a part with an inside thread for connecting two pipes of the same diameter.
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a fitting at the end of a length of hose into which the end of another such length can be screwed or fitted.
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Railroads. coupler.
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Electricity.
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the association of two circuits or systems in such a way that power may be transferred from one to the other.
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a device or expedient to ensure this.
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a short length of plumbing pipe having each end threaded on the inside.
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the part of the body between the tops of the shoulder blades and the tops of the hip joints in a dog, horse, etc.
noun
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a mechanical device that connects two things
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a device for connecting railway cars or trucks together
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the part of the body of a horse, dog, or other quadruped that lies between the forequarters and the hindquarters
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electronics the act or process of linking two or more circuits so that power can be transferred between them usually by mutual induction, as in a transformer, or by means of a capacitor or inductor common to both circuits See also direct coupling
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physics an interaction between different properties of a system, such as a group of atoms or nuclei, or between two or more systems
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genetics the occurrence of two specified nonallelic genes from the same parent on the same chromosome
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of coupling
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at couple, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Reducing the coupling was only part of the challenge.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
That mutual struggle is something they can both understand, and it’s an integral part of why their coupling works.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
The idea would be to launch several rockets, one carrying crew or cargo, and the others carrying tanks of liquid oxygen and liquid methane that would be offloaded through coupling.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
But the umpires confirmed the home run, coupling Adell with Canseco in numerous social media posts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
I yell, looking in alarm first at the point where August disappeared, and then down at the bare coupling and ties that race beneath the cars.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
“Apples float, and as the girls’ potential sweethearts ducked to catch the fruit with their teeth, future couplings were determined — or foretold.”
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2025
Once the animals are brought together, their couplings will alert conservancy staff that the timing is right for reproductive success.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 24, 2024
Each new school also got an emergency generator and exterior couplings to receive clean water from tankers.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2024
That classical-quantum couplings might explain localistation of the wavefunction has been suggested by others including M. Hall and M. Reginatto, Diosi and Tilloy, and David Poulin.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2023
The locksmith hears no whistles, no rattling couplings: no trains.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.