| 释义 |
cou·ple AHD[kŭpʹəl] D.J.[ˈkʌpəl]K.K.[ˈkʌpəl]n.（名词）- Two items of the same kind; a pair.一对，一双：同一种类的两件；一对
- Something that joins or connects two things together; a link.连接物：把两件东西连接在一起的东西；连接物
- (used with a sing. or pl. verb)（与单数或复数动词连用）
- Two people united, as by betrothal or marriage.夫妻，情侣：通过订婚或婚姻结合在一起的两个人
- Two people together.一对：在一起的两个人
- Informal A few; several:【非正式用语】 数个；几个：a couple of days.几天
- Physics A pair of forces of equal magnitude acting in parallel but opposite directions, capable of causing rotation but not translation.【物理学】 力偶：具有相等磁性的两个力，平衡作用但反向，能导致旋转但不能造成平移
v.（动词）cou.pled, cou.pling, cou.ples v.tr.（及物动词）- To link together; connect:连在一起；连接：coupled her refusal with an explanation.她的带有解释的拒绝
- To join as spouses; marry.成双，结婚：作为配偶结合；结婚
- To join in sexual union.性交，交配
- Electricity To link (two circuits or currents) as by magnetic induction.【电学】 连接：如通过电磁感应连接（两条线路或电流）
v.intr.（不及物动词）- To form pairs; join.形成对；连接
- To unite sexually; copulate.性交；交配
- To join chemically.化学上结合
adj.Informal（形容词）【非正式用语】- Two or few:两个的，几个的："Every couple years the urge strikes, to . . . haul off to a new site"(Garrison Keillor)“每几年，想撤离去一个新地点的冲动就来了”(加里森·谢勒)
- Middle English 中古英语
- from Old French 源自 古法语
- from Latin cōpula [bond, pair] 源自 拉丁语 cōpula [绳索，对]
couple, pair, brace, yoke- These nouns denote two individuals of the same kind together.这此名词表示同一种类的两个个体在一起。
- Couple does not necessarily imply more than association: Couple 并不一定必指多于联系的意思： a square dance performed by four couples. The term may also mean simply "few": 由四对表演的四方舞。 这个名词也可以指简单的“几个”： a couple of minutes;几分钟；a couple of books.几本书。
- Pair stresses close association and often reciprocal dependence of things ( Pair 强调亲密的联系和事物相互依赖：（ a pair of gloves;一副手套；a pair of pajamas); sometimes it denotes a single thing with interdependent parts ( 一套睡衣裤）； 有时它表示具有两个相互依赖部分的一件东西（ a pair of scissors;一把剪刀；a pair of spectacles). 一副眼镜）。
- Brace refers principally to certain animals or game birds ( Brace 主要指某种动物或驯鸟（ a brace of hounds;一对猎狗；a brace of partridges), andyoke to two joined draft animals ( 一双鹧鸪）， yoke 主要指两个连在一起的役用动物（ a yoke of oxen). 一对牛）
- When used to refer to two people who function socially as a unit,as ina married couple, the wordcouple may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether the members are considered individually or collectively: 当用来表示作为一个单位来行使社会功能的两个人时，如在一对已婚夫妇 中， 单词couple 既可以带单数动词也可以带复数动词， 这取决于两个人是被单个或集体地看待的： The couple were married last week.这一对夫妇是上星期结的婚。Only one couple was unaccounted for. 只有一对夫妇没被算在内。
- When a pronoun follows,they and their are more common than it and its : 如果后面跟有代词，they 和 their 比 it 和 its 要常用一些： The couple decided to spend their (less commonly its ) vacation in Italy. 这对夫妇决定在意大利度过他们的（很少用 its ） 假期。
- Care should be taken that the verb and the pronoun agree in number: 应当注意动词和代词在数上要一致： The couple have their (less commonly has its ) primary residence in New York. · 这对夫妇（很少用 has its ） 最初的住处在纽约。
- Although the phrasea couple of has been well established in English since before the Renaissance, it has been criticized on several grounds.Grammarians used to insist thata couple of should be used only to refer to things closely linked to one another and so was improperly used in phrases such asa couple of years ago. This objection has not been heard in some time and was never well supported.Modern critics have sometimes maintained thata couple of is too inexact to be appropriate in formal writing. But the inexactitude ofa couple of may serve a useful communicative purpose, suggesting that the writer is indifferent to the precise number of items involved.Thus the sentenceShe lives only a couple of miles away implies not only that the distance is short but that its exact measure is unimportant. Furthermore,a couple of is different from a few in that it does not imply that the relevant amount is relatively small. One might say admiringly of an exceptional center fielder thathe can throw the ball a couple of hundred feet, but not, except ironically,a few hundred feet, which would suggest that such a throw was unremarkable. The usage should be considered unobjectionable on all levels of style.尽管a couple of 这个短语在文艺复兴之前就已在英语中形成， 它仍受到多方面批评。语法学家过去坚持认为a couple of 应该只用于指互相之间紧密相连的东西， 所以在a couple of years ago 这样的短语中用是不适当的。 这样的反对意见长时间没有人提起了，也从未受到太多支持。现代批评家有时也认为a couple of 太不精确，不能很恰当地用于正式的写作中。 但a couple of 的不精确性也有一种很有用的传达交流的意图， 表明作者对于所涉及的事物的精确数目并不太关心。因此她住的只有几英里远 这个句子不仅表明距离很远，同时也表明精确测量是不重要的。 另外a couple of 与 a few 的不同还表现在它不表示有关的数量是相对来说小的。 如果夸赞一个优秀的中外野球手，可以说他能把球抛几百英尺远 ， 若非如此的话，排除反意的可能，a few hundred feet 指抛这么远并没什么稀奇之处。 这种用法在各种文体上都是无可辩驳的
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