coupling 
two simple classes, those that are fixed permanently on 
the shafting and those that are adjustable, connected or 
not at will, or working automatically under variations uf 
the power. Those operated by hand, whatever the par- 
ticular application of the power, are called shifting cou- 
plings. The automatic couplings depend chiefly on friction, 
the adjustment being such that under a certain load the 
power is communicated, while a sudden addition to the 
load may exceed the friction and throw the coupling out 
of operation. (2) A device for uniting two railroad-cars 
in a train. The form at one time used almost exclusively 
in the United States, and still retained for freight-cars, 
is a single link or shackle fitting into jaws at the ends of 
the draw-bar and held in position by pins. This has been 
superseded on passenger- cars by self-acting couplings, 
consisting usually of booked jaws, which slide past each 
other and are self-locking by means of springs or their 
own weight. Levers are also used to operate the couplings 
from the car-platform. Also called coupler, (c) The part 
which unites the front and rear axles, or the axle-bolster, 
of a carriage; the perch or reach. In some carriages the 
bottom of the carriage forms the only coupling, (d) The 
space between the tops of the shoulder-blades and the tops 
of the hip-joints of a dog. 
The term denotes the proportionate length of a dog, 
which is spoken of as short or long in the couplings. 
V. Shaw, Book of the Dog. 
Ball-and-socket coupling. See 6aKi. Differential 
coupling, an extensible coupling designed for varying 
the speed of that part of the machinery which is driven. 
Disk coupling, a kind of permanent coupling which 
consists of two disks keyed on the connected ends of 
the two shafts. In one of the disks there are two re- 
cesses, into which two corresponding projections on the 
other disk are re- 
ceived, and thus the 
two disks become 
locked together. This 
kind of coupling wants 
rigidity, and must be 
supported by a jour- 
nal on each side, but 
it possesses the double 
advantage of being 
easily adjusted and 
disconnected. Dy- 
namometer cou- 
pling. -See dyna- 
Coupling-box. 
Disk Coupling. 
. 
mometer. Flexible coupling, a device for joining pieces 
of shafting which are not exactly in line, or of which the 
relative direction is varied in the course of the work, as 
in a dental engine. It consists of pairs of jointed arms 
united by universal joints, or of spiral springs fastened 
at each end to the two pieces of shafting that are to be 
united, or of plugs or rods of rubber fitted to the shafting. 
Flexible pipe-coupling, a pipe-connection consisting 
of two bell-shaped joints with a short pipe between them, 
which fits into each bell and enables the two pipes to be 
laid out of line while yet keeping the joints tight. Half- 
hose COllpling, a coupling which has a sleeve at one end 
with an internal thread to receive a pipe, while a hose is 
bound on a corrugated tube-shaped portion at the opposite 
end. Half- lap coupling, a kind of permanent coupling 
in which the boss-ends of the connected shafts are made 
semi-cylindrical, so that 
they overlap each other. 
The coupling-box is a 
plain cylinder bored to 
fit, and is kept in its 
place by a parallel key 
or feather, as shown 
Hair-lap Coupling. in the annexed figure. 
Right-and-left cou- 
g, a turn-buckle. Sleeve coupling, a tube within 
which the abutting ends of shafting are coupled together. 
Slip-Clutch coupling, a form of coupling belonging to 
the class of friction-couplings. It is represented in its best 
form in the annexed 
figure. On the shaft B 
is fixed a pulley, which 
is embraced by a fric- 
tion-band a as tightly 
as may be required. 
This band is provided 
with projecting ears, 
with which the prongs 
b b of a fixed cross d on 
the driving-shaft A can 
be shifted into contact. 
This cross is free to 
slide endwise on its 
shaft, but is connected 
to it by a sunk feather, 
Slip-clutch Coupling. 
so that being thrown forward into gear with the ears of 
the friction-band, the shaft being in motion, the band slips 
round on its pulley until the friction becomes equal to the 
resistance, and the pulley gradually attains the same mo- 
tion as the clutch. The arms and sockets c c, which are 
keyed fast on the shaft A, are intended to steady and sup- 
port the prongs, and to remove the strain from the shift- 
ing part. Square coupling, in mitt-work, a kind of per- 
manent coupling of 
which the coupling- 
box is made in halves 
and square, corre- 
sponding to the form 
of the two connected 
ends of the shafts. The 
two halves of the box 
Square Coupling. are bolted together on 
the opposite sides, as 
represented in the annexed figure. Thimble coupling 
a kind of permanent coupling in which the coupling-box 
consists of a plain ring of metal, supposed to resemble 
a tailor's thimble, bored 
to fit the two connected 
ends of the shafts. The 
connection is secured 
either by pins passed 
through the ends of the 
shafts and the thimble, 
or by a parallel key or Thimble Coupling. 
1310 
feather bedded in the boss-ends of the shafts, and let into 
a corresponding groove cut in the thimble. This last is 
now the more common mode of fitting. This kind of 
coupling is also known under the names of ring coupling 
and jump-coupling. 
Coupling-box (kup'ling-boks), n. In much., the 
box or ring of metal con- 
necting the contiguous ends 
of two lengths of shaft. See 
coupling, 4. 
coupling-link (kup ' ling- 
link), n. A link for connect- 
ing or attaching together 
two objects, as railroad- 
cars, or for rendering a section of a chain de- 
tachable. See connecting-link. 
coupling-pin (kup'ling-pin), . A pin used for 
coupling or joining railroad-cars and other ma- 
chinery. 
coupling-pole (kup'ling-pol), n. A pole which 
connects the front and back parts of the gear 
of a wagon. See cut under hounds. 
coupling-Strap (kup'ling-strap), . A strap 
passing from the outer bit-ring of one horse of 
a span through the inner, and attached to the 
harness of his mate: used in some double har- 
nesses to act as a curb for an unruly horse. 
coupling-valve (kup'ling-valv), n. A valve in 
the hose-coupling of an air-brake. 
coupon (ko'pon), . [< F. coupon, a remnant, a 
coupon, < couper, cut : see coup 1 , v.~\ A printed 
certificate or ticket attached to and forming 
part of an original or principal certificate or 
ticket, and intended to be detached when used. 
Specifically (o) An interest certificate printed at the bot- 
tom of a bond running for a term of years. There are as 
many of these certificates as there are payments to be made. 
At each time of payment one is cut ort and presented for 
payment. In the United States coupons are negotiable 
instruments on which suits may be brought though de- 
tached from the bond. A purchaser of an over-due coupon 
takes only the title of the seller. Negotiable coupons are 
entitled to days of grace, (b) One of a series of conjoined 
tickets which bind the issuer to make certain payments, 
perform some service (as transportation over connecting 
railroad lines), or give value for certain amounts at differ- 
ent periods, in consideration of money received. At the 
settlement of each claim a coupon is detached and given up. 
I was sent to a steamboat office for car tickets. ... A 
fat, easy gentleman gave me several bits of paper, with 
coupons attached, with a warning not to separate them. 
L. M. Alcott, Hospital Sketches, p. 14. 
Coupon bond, a bond, usually of a state or corporation, 
and usually payable to the bearer, for the payment of 
money at a future day, with severable tickets or coupons 
annexed, each representing an instalment of interest, 
which may be conveniently cut off for collection as they 
fall due, without impairing the principal obligation. 
Coupon-killer, a popular name applied to either of two 
acts of the State of Virginia, the first of which was passed 
January 14th, 1882 (Acts of Assembly, 1881-2, c. 7), declar- 
ing certain coupons purporting to be from State bonds to 
be fraudulent, and forbidding their acceptance in payment 
of taxes ; and the second, June 26th, 1882 ( Acts of Assembly, 
1881 -2, c. 41), in effect prohibiting the receipt of coupons 
from any bonds of the State for taxes. See Virginia cou- 
pon cases, under easel. Coupon ticket, a ticket of ad- 
mission to a place of amusement, entitling the holder to a 
specified seat, and printed in two parts, of which one is 
torn off and returned to the holder on entering. Virginia 
coupon cases. See easel. 
coupure (ko-pur'), . [F., < couper, cut: see 
coup 1 , .] 1. Milit.: (a) An intrenchment or 
f oss made by the besieged behind a breach, with 
a view to defense. (6) A passage cut through 
the glacis in the reentering angle of the cover- 
ed way, to facilitate sallies of the besieged. 
2. In math., a cutting of a Riemann's surface. 
courage (kur'aj), n. [Early mod. E. also coragc, 
< ME. coragc, < OF. corage, enrage, courage, 
coraige, heart, mind, thought, inclination, de- 
sire, feeling, spirit, valor, courage, F. courage, 
spirit, valor, courage, = Pr. coratge = Sp. co- 
raje = Pg. coragem = It. coraggio (ML. cora- 
gium after Rom.), < L. cor, = E. heart, > OF. 
cor, cuer, etc., heart : see core 1 , heart, and -age.] 
If. Heart; mind; thought; feeling; inclina- 
tion ; desire. 
Swiche a gret corage 
Hadde this knight to ben a wedded man. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1, 10. 
And ther-fore telle me what wey ye purposeth yow to 
go, and after I shall telle yow my corage, and why I have 
seute for to speke with yow and my cosins youre bretheren. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 190. 
I had such a courage to do him good. 
Shak., T. of A., iii. 3. 
2f. State or frame of mind ; disposition ; con- 
dition. 
In this courage 
Hem [olive-trees] forto graffe is goode, as sayen the sage. 
Palladiui, Hnsbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 190. 
My lord, cheer up your spirits ; our foes are nigh, 
And this soft cam-age makes your followers faint. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 2. 
3. That quality of mind which enables one to 
encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, 
courant 
or without fear or depression of spirits ; valor ; 
boldness; bravery; spirit; daring; resolution: 
formerly occasionally used in the plural. 
In this Battel, the young Prince Henry, tho' wounded in 
his Face with an Arrow, yet was not wounded in his Cou- 
rage, but continued Fighting still. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 162. 
If number English courages could quell, 
We should at first have shunned not met our foes. 
Dryden. 
Courage that grows from constitution very often for- 
sakes a man when he has occasion for it ; . . . courage 
which arises from the sense of our duty . . . acts always 
in a uniform manner. Addinon, Guardian. 
Few persons have courage enough to appear as good as 
they really are. J. C. and A. W. Hare, Guesses at Truth. 
Dutch courage. See Dutch. =Syn. 3. Fortitude, fear- 
lessness, during, hardihood, gallantry, spirit, pluck. For 
comparison, see brave. 
COUraget (kur'aj), v. t. [Early mod. E. also 
corage, < OF. coragier, couragier, encourage, < 
corage, heart, courage : see courage, n. In part 
by apheresis from encourage, q. v.] To ani- 
mate; encourage; cheer. 
He lacketh teaching, he lacketh coraging. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 36. 
He will fetch you up a couraging part so in the garret 
that we are all as feared, I warrant you, that we quake 
again. Jleau. and Fl., Knight of Burning Pestle, Ind. 
courageous (ku-ra'jus), a. [Early mod. E. also 
couragious; < ME. corageus, coragous, corajous, 
korajous, curajows, < OF. corageus, F. courageux 
(= Pr. coratjos, coratgos = Sp. (obs.) Pg. cora- 
joso = It. coraggioso), (. corage: see courage, 
n., and -o.] Possessing or characterized by 
courage; brave; daring; intrepid. 
These hem recey ved well as noble men and gode knyghtes 
that weren full bolde and hardy and coraiouse in annes. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 398. 
Be strong and courageous ; be not afraid nor dismayed 
for the king of Assyria. 2 Chron. xxxii. 7. 
Horses, although low of stature, yet strong and coura- 
ffioug. Sandys, Travailes, p. 13. 
= Syn. Valiant, Valiant, etc. See brave. 
courageously (ku-ra'jus-li), adv. With cou- 
rage ; bravely ; boldly ; intrepidly. 
Here standeth Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, . . . 
Courageously, and with a free desire, 
Attending but the signal to begin. Shak., Rich. II., i. 3. 
courageousness (ku-ra'jus-nes), n. The char- 
acter or quality of being courageous ; bravery ; 
valor. 
The manliness of them that were with Jndas, and the 
courageoumess that they had to fight for their country. 
2 Mac. xiv. 18. 
COUrant 1 (ko'rant), a. and n. [< F. courant, 
running (OF. curant), ppr. of 
courir, OF. curre, corre, < L. cur- 
rere, run : see current 1 , formerly 
currant 1 , the game word, but of 
older introduction.] I. a. Run- 
ning: in her., specifically said 
of a horse, stag, or other beast 
so represented. See currant 1 , 
current 1 . 
Il.t [F. cordeau courant, a running-string, 
a gardeners' or carpenters' line.] A running- 
string. 
A whole net, . . . together with the cords and strings 
called Courants, running along the edges to draw it m 
and let it out. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xix. 1. 
courant 2 (ko-ranf), n. [Early mod. E. also co- 
rant (and, after It., coranto, couranto, corranto, 
eurranto, caranto), < F. corn-ante, f., a dance, 
the air to which it is danced (> It. coranta, 
corranta), prop. fern, of courant, ppr. of courir, 
run: see courant 1 , current 1 ,'] 1. A kind of 
dance, consisting of a time, a step, a balance, 
and a coupee. 
At a solemn Dancing, first you had the grave Measures, 
then the Corrantoes and the Galliards. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 62. 
2. A piece of music taking its rhythm and form 
from such a dance. Specifically (a) A piece in rather 
rapid triple rhythm, changing sometimes to sextuple, 
consisting of two repeated strains abounding in dotted 
notes and usually of polyphonic structure. (6) A piece in 
triple time and with many runs and passages. The first 
form was much used as a component of the old-fashioned 
suite, usually following the allemande, while the second 
is the commoner Italian form. 
courant 3 (ko'rant or ko-rant'), . [Early mod. 
E. also corranie, corranto, coranto, currnnto; a 
particular use of courant, running, current; 
that is, the gazette containing the current 
news, or the news of the current week or 
month.] A gazette ; a news-letter or news- 
paper. [Obsolete except as a name for some 
particular newspaper.] 
The weekly courants with Paul's seal ; and all 
Th admird discourses of the prophet Ball. 
B. Jonxon, Underwoods. 
Courant. 
