count coup
/ˌkaʊnt ˈku/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.94 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "dǐ ki, v. t., to strike, to whip, to "count coup.""
- "Sitting Bull, on horseback, with his brother behind him, counts "coup" on the soldier, and adds a new feather to his war bonnet and variety to the color of his legging fringes."
- "No Sioux may wear an eagle's tail-feather unless he has counted a coup, or stroke, upon an enemy, dead or alive."
- "A small band of Indians had ridden onto this irresistible opportunity and had counted coup with the whites' own unguarded guns."
- "Only a damn fool counts coup on a kill he ain't sure of. That hombre could have us under his gun this very minute."
- "I told him what I had done, how I had counted coup in a Pottawattomie, and he shook hands and said that he too had counted coup and that he was going to wear a head ornament."
Etymology
count + coup (“quick, brilliant, and highly successful act”) (from French coup (“blow, hit, strike”), ultimately from Ancient Greek κόλᾰφος (kólăphos, “a buffet, a blow”)).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkaʊnt ˈku/
- British English: /ˌkaʊnt ˈkuː/
Usage
- American usage
- Intransitive verb