Noun

(en noun)

Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.

* 1729 , (Jonathan Swift), (A Modest Proposal)

I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders;

Two of the same kind connected or considered together.

* 1839 , (Charles Dickens), (Nicholas Nickleby)

(label) A small number.

* 1839 , (Charles Dickens), (Nicholas Nickleby)

A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle

* 1891 , (Arthur Conan Doyle), (The Adventure of the Red-Headed League)

‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’

* 1902 , , Across Coveted Lands :

When we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore

* , chapter=1

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ […].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.}}

*{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1

, passage=And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.}}

One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.

(label) Two forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (and acting along parallel lines), thus creating the turning effect of a torque or moment.

(label) A couple-close.

(label) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

* (w, Roger L'Estrange) (1616-1704)

It is in some sort with friends as it is with dogs in couples ; they should be of the same size and humour.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

I'll go in couples with her.

Noun

(en noun)

A small device, made (usually) of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening.

* Milton

With pins of adamant / And chains they made all fast.

A small nail with a head and a sharp point.

A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.

Pull the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at the enemy.

A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.

(in plural'' pins ; ''informal ) A leg.

I'm not so good on my pins these days.

(electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.

The UK standard connector for domestic mains electricity has three pins .

A piece of jewellery that is attached to clothing with a pin.

(US) A simple accessory that can be attached to clothing with a pin or fastener, often round and bearing a design, logo or message, and used for decoration, identification or to show political affiliation, etc.

(chess) A scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to attack.

(curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)

The shot landed right on the pin .

* Shakespeare

the very pin of his heart cleft

(dated) A mood, a state of being.

* Cowper

a merry pin

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each person should drink.

(medicine, obsolete) caligo

(Shakespeare)

A thing of small value; a trifle.

* Spectator

He did not care a pin for her.

A peg in musical instruments for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.

(engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.

The tenon of a dovetail joint.