How to Use uncouple in a Sentence

uncouple

verb
  • Crew members were told to uncouple the engine, baggage and mail cars from the rest of the train.
    — Paula Allen, San Antonio Express-News, 17 Apr. 2021
  • The crews were forced to uncouple their hoses, leave them lying on the forest floor, and beat a retreat.
    — Keith Matheny, USA TODAY, 20 July 2024
  • Early on, some attempted to uncouple the anthem from the game.
    — Avi Selk, Washington Post, 24 Sep. 2017
  • In flat-switching, members stationed along tracks to uncouple railcars sometimes didn’t pull out the pins on time.
    — Esther Fung, WSJ, 6 Sep. 2022
  • The science uncoupling the effects of fasting and calorie restriction on aging is in its infancy.
    — William Mair, Twin Cities, 24 Sep. 2019
  • At one point, Paltrow reportedly wanted to step in and help the warring pair to consciously uncouple.
    — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2017
  • Not all observers familiar with the military legal system want to uncouple it from discipline.
    — Sig Christenson, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Apr. 2021
  • The great @michaelsheen & I consciously uncoupled over Christmas.
    — Nick Maslow, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2018
  • After the crash, the lead car of the train, which derailed slightly, was uncoupled from the other cars and will remain on the scene for investigators to assess.
    — Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Besides being able to shift up or down using the paddles, drivers will be able to uncouple the transmission altogether by pulling on both paddles at once.
    — Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 18 July 2019
  • The railroad commissioner agreed with the railroad that regularly uncoupling trains for that purpose is less than ideal.
    — Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 May 2018
  • Spotify has since uncoupled somewhat from its biggest podcasters.
    — Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 10 May 2024
  • The man slid soundlessly to the ground, a round hole in his forehead from which the blood bubbled and ran down into his eyes carrying with it his slowly uncoupling world visible to see.
    — Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 June 2023
  • In an era in which body-positivity activists have been working hard to help women uncouple their sense of self-worth from the numbers on a scale, that’s one controversial plot.
    — Sarah Todd, Quartzy, 4 Sep. 2019
  • An attempt to uncouple the engine and car containing a safe and valuables was unsuccessful amid the shootout, and the robbers fled instead with some jewelry and cash.
    — Paul Eisenberg, chicagotribune.com, 15 Aug. 2021
  • The past few years look like the kind of crazy uncoupling that happens every couple of decades, not a structural downshift from the world's most competitive market to a network of cartels.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 17 July 2019
  • That is part of the appeal, for some, to make sports an obtuse distraction from reality, but any suggestion that sports used to be uncoupled from culture and politics is myth.
    — John Branch, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2019
  • Getting rid of it also distances us from polygamous groups from whom Latter-day Saint leaders have long tried to consciously uncouple.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 14 July 2022
  • Many in the liberal caucus spent Friday morning pushing to uncouple the weapons ban from the public safety package and hold separate votes.
    — Arkansas Online, 30 July 2022
  • These people had crowded into, and on the top of, a few straggling passenger cars that lay uncoupled along the track, in seeming expectation that some one was to come, in due time, and take them off.
    — al, 5 June 2020
  • The two trade fairs consciously uncoupled back in June, meaning companies are no longer required to book stands at both conferences and the two weeks will grow differently.
    — Rhonda Richford, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Oct. 2019
  • By releasing its guidance before the data used to justify it, the CDC didn't so much put the cart before the horse as uncouple them entirely.
    — Joel Mathis, The Week, 30 July 2021
  • After that consciously uncoupling business, she is now engaged to a behind-the-scenes mogul, TV producer Brad Falchuk.
    — Karen Helle, chicagotribune.com, 14 June 2018
  • The legislation affecting wealthy Marylanders uncouples the state from federal estate-tax rules.
    — Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2018
  • My roommates, a couple probably/hopefully in the process of uncoupling, spend most of their free hours adding to the noise levels by playing the sort of music that is like a prolonged moan, or maybe a whale dying, while yelling at each other.
    — Greta Moran, The Cut, 29 Mar. 2018
  • No, Scarlett Johansson and Jane Fonda aren’t uncoupling from each other, but from each one’s latest significant others.
    — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 26 Jan. 2017
  • Nigo has mostly favored coed shows during the men’s calendar in Paris since 2022, but had recently uncoupled them to give womenswear a bigger spotlight.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 18 Dec. 2025
  • After consciously uncoupling from Brad Pitt, newly single Angelina Jolie has never looked better.
    — Jenna Rennert, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Before installation begins, contractors should evaluate the subfloor and, when necessary, install an uncoupling membrane to absorb movement and help prevent cracking.
    — Angelika Pokovba, Martha Stewart, 12 June 2026
  • As things stand, Senate GOP leadership doesn’t plan to uncouple the DHS bill from the other five government funding bills, which have wide support.
    — Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'uncouple.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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