Coupling
['kʌplɪŋ]
Definition
(noun.) the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes; 'the casual couplings of adolescents'; 'the mating of some species occurs only in the spring'.
(noun.) a mechanical device that serves to connect the ends of adjacent objects.
Editor: Maureen--From WordNet
Definition
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Couple
(n.) The act of bringing or coming together; connection; sexual union.
(n.) A device or contrivance which serves to couple or connect adjacent parts or objects; as, a belt coupling, which connects the ends of a belt; a car coupling, which connects the cars in a train; a shaft coupling, which connects the ends of shafts.
Checked by Hugo
Examples
- True, he hated promiscuity even worse than marriage, and a liaison was only another kind of coupling, reactionary from the legal marriage. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- In his new engine, the Samson, he adopted the plan of coupling the fore and rear wheels of the engine. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Many thousands of these have been patented, but the Janney coupling, patented April 29, 1873, No. 138,405, is the most representative type. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The automatic car coupling is another important life-saving improvement. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Coupling together many circumstances which had at first escaped his observation, he thought I had not treated her well. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- They shake hands and embrace each other over and over again, the trooper still coupling his How do you do, my dear old fellow! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- When the extra vents of the reservoir are not used, they can be closed by a short rubber coupling and a pinch cock. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- I was holding to the hand-rods and crouching low, my feet on the coupling. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Couplings in these pipes serve to quickly disconnect the engine when the run to the fire is to be made. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- This air passing through a train pipe connected by hose couplings between cars charges an auxiliary reservoir under each car. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The year 1900 is to witness the compulsory adoption of automatic car couplings on all cars. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Typed by Jed