A couple is two people that you see together on a particular occasion or that have some association. ...as the four couples began the opening dance. They were an odd couple.
The meaning of COUPLE is two persons married, engaged, or otherwise romantically paired. How to use couple in a sentence. Is couple an adjective?: Usage Guide
COUPLE definition: 1. two or a few things that are similar or the same, or two or a few people who are in some way…. Learn more.
A traditional and still broadly accepted usage of couple is as a noun followed by "of" to mean "two", as in "a couple of people". In this usage, "a couple of" is equivalent to "a pair of".
Usage Note: When used to refer to two people who function socially as a unit, as in a married couple, the word couple may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether the members are considered individually or collectively: The couple were married last week.
The shortened phrase a couple, without of (The gas station is a couple miles from here), is an Americanism of recent development that occurs chiefly in informal speech or representations of speech.
As a verb, couple means "to pair or match." As a noun, couple means "a pair." If two people are dating, you can refer to them as "a couple." Similarly, two people who are married can be called a "married couple."
In informal U.S. English, a couple can be used like a couple of before a plural noun.
As a verb, couple means "to pair or combine," as people on a dance floor might couple or form pairs when the music starts. You can also couple two ideas by combining them.