O The last couple

of years have been difficult,

3 [C+sing./pl. v.] two people who are seen together, espe­cially if they are married or in a romantic or sexual relationship ( A ) — Xt; ( Xfe ) tffp: married couples /IXt AX3 o a young/an elderly couple / tSA Afl o Several couples were on the dance floor. W/lXAIf IB {1H o o The couple was/were married in 1976. i£Xt AX3 A 1976 A£nXt° ITiTTCl see shake n. ► a couple pron.: Do you need any more glasses? I’ve got a couple I canlendyou. JlAAW{f&f£0

couple det. (NAmE) : It’s only a couple blocks away.

verb 1 [VN] [usually passive] ~ A (to B) | ~ A and B together to join together two parts of sth, for example two vehicles or pieces of equipment ( ffi A-       fe

The two train cars had been coupled together. M7" A A$1 B*£j£±f^7o 0 CDTV uses a CD-ROM system that is coupled to a powerful computer.

m* 2 [V] (formal) (of two people or animals %) to have sex i435; 3512 iiili-.Wk 'couple sb/sth with sb/sth [usually passive] to link one thing, situation, etc. to another JE •••% ••• ft.® ^ H771 combine with : Overproduction, coupled with falling sales, has led to huge losses for the company.

coup-let /'kAplat/ noun two lines of poetry of equal length one after the other Xtft ( f4i£67M7rA:f§:f@%67 ifft ) ; XtK: a poem written in rhyming couplets Jiff — see also heroic couplet

coup-ling /‘kAplirj/ noun 1 [usually sing.] an action of joining or combining two things Slit;    a

coupling of Mozart’s Prague Symphony and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony (= for example, on the same CD)

«a

) 2 (formal) an act of having sex 1435: illicit couplings 77 4i 671435 3 (tech­nical A ip) a thing that joins together two parts of sth, two vehicles or two pieces of equipment

\mmh) -m

cou pon /’ku:pDn; NAmE -pain; ‘kju:-/ noun 1 a small piece of printed paper that you can exchange for sth or that gives you the right to buy sth at a cheaper price than normal         ( ISfcftJ ) HH; ( fiVU ) jfcK#:

money-off coupons           9 clothing coupons (M ¥< M o

an international reply coupon ft ^ ii Mj M ft pi] fn       #

2 a printed form, often cut out from a newspaper, that is used to enter a competition, order goods, etc. ( A fj #f ft jftbJ67 ) Fill in and return the

attached coupon. 3?HA»t±67##^Ai$®o

courage 0-w /‘kArid3; NAmE'k3ir-/ noun [U] the ability to do sth dangerous, or to face pain or opposition, without showing fear fj H; !§ IX; AS;

JJU W         bravery : He showed great courage and

determination, ftfc           At 7! IX fa AKio o / haven’t yet

plucked up the courage to ask her. 7 IS f§H Aft

Utk o o moral/physical courage M I# IE A 67 f! %; M IX XSMil o courage in the face of danger ffiXtfiz;Mftf67 JjB ft — see also Dutch courage 117171 have/lack the courage of your con victions to be/not be brave enough to do what you feel to be right #/ MHW

ft £ if >J IE01 67 7 take courage (from sth) to begin to feel happier and more confident because of sth ( ft M 7M )   take your courage in both hands to

make yourself do sth that you are afraid of ( Oft ft £Wtft#67^ ) ; IX ft IX A; Taking her courage in both hands, she opened the door and walked in. X&tt If IMfTiJVnC i 7i&Ac — more at screw v.

courage ous /ka'reid3as/ adj. showing courage If IX 67; A: & 67 ETXTI brave: a very courageous decision A A HIX 67 A A 0 I hope people will be courageous enough to speak out against this injustice. l£#M Af]f£$XAAJ!!I ix. Xt # 7 ■&« Bin cowardly ► cour-age-

ous-ly adv.

cour-gette /kua^et; ko:‘3et; NAmE kur^et/ (BrE) (NAmE zuc-chini) noun a long vegetable with dark green skin and white flesh ( 'M       A ® 31 P, A . JE.

— picture o page R19

courier /’kuria(r)/ noun 1 a person or company whose job is to take packages or important papers somewhere

(ymm, mim,         we

sent the documents by courier. K; ff] W. f im ^ xt 3c & ® Aj4o 2 (BrE) a person who is employed by a travel company to give advice and help to a group of tourists on holiday (       ►courier verb: [VN]

Courier that letter—it needs to get there today (= send it by courier). A AfiJli,

BRITISH/AMERICAN

course program

                  In BrE course is used for a series of lessons or lectures on a particular subject.

course           a physics course

0 a course often lectures In NAmE you would say         o physics

course/program  0 a program often lectures

                  In NAmE a course is usually an individual unit that forms part of a longer period of study.

4, course

/ have to take a physics course/class. Kf##]J0"“f 3#J IfSo This is called a module in Britain, especially in a college or university.

module0

                  In BrE course can also mean a period of study at a

college or university.         course

IX W 67         a two-year college course W467

In NAmE you would say iftHHilfi#: a two-year college program iWA^A^ifS

Course Ot* /kais; NAmEkoirs/ noun, verb

a noun

                 EDUCATION |X Tj 1 [C] ~ (in/on sth) a series of lessons or

lectures on a particular subject (    )

iffi, ®: a French/chemistry, etc. course A in . ft

0 to take/do a course in art and design TXi^H o to go on a management training course A # 7P IS" ii To illl iff H o The college runs specialist language courses. f i^W^l' J if          — see

also CORRESPONDENCE COURSE, CRASH adj., FOUNDA­TION COURSE, INDUCTION COURSE, REFRESHER COURSE,

sandwich course 2 [C] (especially BrE) a period of study at a college or university that leads to an exam or a qualification (      ) i

a degree course {\L if # 0 a two-year postgraduate course leading to a master’s degree W A rfrj ± ft A if TM — compare programme n.(5)

                 DIRECTION A [a] 3 [U, C, usually sing.] a direction or route followed by a ship or an aircraft ( JlS^c 4fJl67 ) Haft,

The plane was on/off course (= going/not going in the right direction). \ fll Ha ft IE 51 / fi ^ 0          0 He

radioed the pilot to change course. A ££ ii Tfl X 'U M St^Ha ft o ^ They set a course for the islands. fMl 61 S 7 A il$ 67Ha^o 4 [C, usually sing.] the general direc­tion in which sb’s ideas or actions are moving Aft; ft Eh A ft : The president appears likely to change course on some key issues. M/X if U ^ nf fg ^ ^ Jr ^ ft jg ± SX $ A ft o o Politicians are often obliged to steer a course between incompatible interests.

# mmz ft A St Hail.

                 ACTION It Eh 5 (also .course of ’action) [C] a way of

acting in or dealing with a particular situation fjih A it; Xh J1 AT£ : There are various courses open to us. Kfl J A^ #Xh51AiA A   0 What course of action

would you recommend?  fe#ft A A 'A % ? 0 The

wisest course would be to say nothing. Mft t?67XTH

p xfifE

                 DEVELOPMENT % JH 6 [sing] ~ of sth the way sth

develops or should develop  iSH: an event that

changed the course of history 0X $ f ffj Ait|i.67 :Af4 o The unexpected course of events aroused considerable alarm.