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COUP
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A brilliant and notable success
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("coup" is a kind of...):
success (an attainment that is successful)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A sudden and decisive change of government illegally or by force
Synonyms:
coup; coup d'etat; putsch; takeover
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("coup" is a kind of...):
group action (action taken by a group of people)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "coup"):
countercoup (a sudden and decisive overthrow of a government that gained power by a coup d'etat)
Instance hyponyms:
October Revolution; Russian Revolution (the coup d'etat by the Bolsheviks under Lenin in November 1917 that led to a period of civil war which ended in victory for the Bolsheviks in 1922)
Context examples:
The shock that followed this declaration found voice in a sustained "Ah-h-h!" as the door of the coupé swung slowly open.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Tom drove slowly until we were beyond the bend—then his foot came down hard and the coupé raced along through the night. In a little while I heard a low husky sob and saw that the tears were overflowing down his face.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
I became aware now of a hollow, wailing sound which issued incessantly from the garage, a sound which as we got out of the coupé and walked toward the door resolved itself into the words "Oh, my God!" uttered over and over in a gasping moan.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Instinct made him step on the accelerator with the double purpose of overtaking Daisy and leaving Wilson behind, and we sped along toward Astoria at fifty miles an hour, until, among the spidery girders of the elevated, we came in sight of the easygoing blue coupé.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
"Listen," said Tom, shaking him a little. "I just got here a minute ago, from New York. I was bringing you that coupé we've been talking about. That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine, do you hear? I haven't seen it all afternoon."
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
