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or stratagem; -- a term used in various ways to convey the idea of promptness and force. Coup de grace (ke gr Etym: [F.], the stroke of mercy with which an executioner ends by death the sufferings of the condemned; hence, a decisive, finishing stroke. -- Coup de main (ke m Etym: [F.] (Mil.), a sudden and unexpected m…

Culpable. [Obs.]

The front compartment of a French diligence; also, the front compartment (usually for three persons) of a car or carriage on British railways.

Any position giving the enemy such advantage that the troops occupying it must either surrender or be cut to pieces. Farrow.

Cut off smoothly, as distinguished from erased; -- used especially for the head or limb of an animal. See Erased.

A motion in dancing, when one leg is a little bent, and raised from the floor, and with the other a forward motion is made. Chambers.

That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler. [Obs.] It is in some sort with friends as it is with dogs in couples; they should be of the same size and humor. L'Estrange. I'll go in couples with her. Shak.

One who makes it his business to marry beggars to each other. Swift.

A diminutive of the chevron, containing one fourth of its surface. Couple-closes are generally borne one on each side of a chevron, and the blazoning may then be either a chevron between two couple-closes or chevron cottised.

Union; combination; a coupling; a pair. [Obs.] Shak. And forth together rode, a goodly couplement. Spenser.

One who couples; that which couples, as a link, ring, or shackle, to connect cars. Coupler of an organ, a contrivance by which any two or more of the ranks of keys, or keys and pedals, are connected so as to act together when the organ is played.

Two taken together; a pair or couple; especially two lines of verse that rhyme with each other. A sudden couplet rushes on your mind. Crabbe.

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. Box coupling, Chain coupling. See under Box, Chain. -- Coupling box, a co…

A certificate of interest due, printed at the bottom of transferable bonds (state, railroad, etc.), given for a term of years, designed to be cut off and presented for payment when the interest is due; an interest warrant.

A stick or switch used among some American Indians in making or counting a coup.

A passage cut through the glacis to facilitate sallies by the besieged. Wilhelm.

To join; to couple. [R.] The Englishmen accoupled themselves with the Frenchmen. Hall.

The act of coupling, or the state of being coupled; union. [R.] Caxton.

A concussion or shock produced by a blow or other injury, in a part or region opposite to that at which the blow is received, often causing rupture or disorganisation of the parts affected.

Coupled without intermediate connections, as an engine and a dynamo.