couple three

See also: couple-three

English

Etymology

couple + three

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iː

Determiner

couple three

1. (colloquial, US) Two or three or a similarly small number of.
   • 1976, Mendocino County Remembered: An Oral History, Mendocino County Historical Society:

     So he brought in a full quart of whiskey, poured part of it out, left a couple, three inches left in the bottle.

   • 1998, Nora Roberts, Sanctuary:

     I figure we might make it to the bed--if you're set on being traditional--in a couple, three hours.

   • 2001, Susan Perly, Love Street:

     One day not met, yet, nor even on that street alone has been sighted, then a couple three days later after the fullness of fades, they go.

   • 2004, Bernard Malamud, A New Life:

     Then why don't you let me take the paper over for a couple-three days and ask Avis to finish the job?

   • 2007, Harry Turtledove, Fort Pillow:

     General Chalmers is camped a couple-three miles in back of us.

   • 2012, Loree Lough, A Man of Honor:

     Cops picked her up at the Greyhound station a couple-three winters ago, shivering, hungry, dirty as a gutter rat.

Usage notes

• Unlike couple, which is generally used as a noun, couple three is used only as a determiner and thus not generally followed by of.

Synonyms

• a couple two three