Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To disconnect.
  • intransitive verb To set loose or release from a couple.
  • intransitive verb To come or break loose.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In organ-playing, to separate or disjoin by throwing off the coupler between two keyboards which have been mechanically joined in action. See organ, 6.
  • To loose, as dogs from their couples, or railway-cars from their couplings; set loose; disjoin.
  • To break loose; exert influence unrestrained.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To roam at liberty.
  • transitive verb To loose, as dogs, from their couples; also, to set loose; to disconnect; to disjoin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To disconnect or detach one thing from another.
  • verb transitive To come loose.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb disconnect or separate

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The [UnitedHealth] program is banking on the assumption that if we uncouple paying for drugs with paying for care that doctors will do what they do best, which is doctor.

    In Treating Cancer, Insurer Tries New Way to Pay Docs Avery Johnson 2010

  • Argument by Insignification — For any given argument where an overwhelmingly sufficient number of points of evidence is advanced to justify an assertion as to theme or subtext, and where these points of evidence are undeniably manifest in the text, a rejection of significance for each notable element of a work, large or small, recurrent or isolated, may be employed to uncouple the link between evidence and interpretation on each count.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • If you uncouple the gun issue from other liberal/conservative squabbles you will find that respect for our firearms bearing heritage is way broader than other issues.

    Gallup Poll Reveals Pro-Gun Trend 2009

  • In November, when Adafruit offered a bounty to the first person who figured out how to uncouple the Kinect from the Xbox 360, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNET: Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products.

    Microsoft announces developers kit due this spring 2011

  • Argument by Insignification — For any given argument where an overwhelmingly sufficient number of points of evidence is advanced to justify an assertion as to theme or subtext, and where these points of evidence are undeniably manifest in the text, a rejection of significance for each notable element of a work, large or small, recurrent or isolated, may be employed to uncouple the link between evidence and interpretation on each count.

    Arguing With Geeks 8 Hal Duncan 2009

  • We would fix the tax code to uncouple health insurance from employment and let people purchase their own mix of services and coverage.

    The Myth of Runaway Health Spending J.D. Kleinke 2012

  • If you uncouple the gun issue from other liberal/conservative squabbles you will find that respect for our firearms bearing heritage is way broader than other issues.

    Gallup Poll Reveals Pro-Gun Trend 2009

  • The crowd began to uncouple from their conversations, and Floyd launched his dinghy onto the dark waters of the Chateau de Ville Ballroom and Function Facilities.

    Nuptial Indemnity Con Chapman 2011

  • • We should be allowed to uncouple a "to" from its verb with impunity.

    Lucy Mangan: All style and substance 2010

  • And if we occasionally want to uncouple our mental state from our actual situation in the world (e.g. by taking powerful drugs, drinking great quantities of alcohol, etc.) we don't want this to render us permanently delusional, however pleasant such delusion might be.

    Sam Harris: Toward a Science of Morality Sam Harris 2010

Comments

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  • Decouple refers to the removal of a logical association: decouple ideology from foreign policy.

    Uncouple refers to the removal of a physical connection: uncouple the train cars.

    January 27, 2007