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# coup

«coup» in Mova's school dictionary: **A sudden, often violent, illegal taking of power in a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a coup, coups)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A sudden, often violent, illegal taking of power in a country, usually by the army; also called a coup d'état. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#m1)

2) A clever, successful action that wins something hard to get. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history and news lessons it appears when soldiers or leaders take over a government without an election. In everyday talk it can mean a great success ("getting that star player was a coup"). Phrases: "military coup", "failed coup", "a coup d'état", "a real coup".

### examples

- The army took power in a coup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#x1)
- The coup failed, and the president stayed in power. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#x2)
- Getting the famous author to visit our school was a real coup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#x3)
- After the coup, there were protests in the streets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#x4)
- A coup d'état is French for "a blow against the state". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/#x5)

### note

Pronounced "koo"; the p is silent. Plural: coups (also "koos"). From French "coup" meaning a blow or hit. Do not confuse with "coop" (a hen house) or "coupe".

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «coup» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/coup/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.