How to Use the last/previous couple of in a Sentence

the last/previous couple of

idiom
Definition of the last/previous couple ofnext
  • Well, that is one of the things that has changed in the last couple of years.
    — 5 Things Podcast Transcript, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
  • Look at all the lies he's told over the last couple of weeks.
    — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 17 Sep. 2023
  • The storm that’s been hitting the Earth the last couple of days has reached G5.
    — Wes Davis, The Verge, 12 May 2024
  • That area has come on in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years.
    — Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Over the last couple of months, the race has been at a standstill.
    — Samantha-Jo Roth, Washington Examiner, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Jones has not been the same player in the last couple of years, though.
    — Ryan Morik, Fox News, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Just start out, what have our strikes achieved over the last couple of days?
    — ABC News, 4 Feb. 2024
  • Sure, the Cowboys have won a lot of games over the last couple of years, and it’s been fun.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 26 July 2023
  • And the switch has been happening for the last couple of years.
    — Kaitlyn Huamani, Peoplemag, 22 June 2023
  • The one that’s been coming up the most in the last couple of weeks is on the inpatient side.
    — Chantelle Lee, TIME, 27 Sep. 2024
  • He’s spent far too long for the last couple of years being sad.
    — Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024
  • Will there be a theme to it, like the previous couple of tours?
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 July 2024
  • The race was tight and Huske was trailing until the last couple of mighty strokes.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
  • And that is something that Ida’s taken me to task for a lot over the last couple of years.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 10 Sep. 2023
  • But it’s been a fun story to tell at parties the last couple of nights.
    — Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 28 July 2023
  • With [Nathan’s] new sobriety over the last couple of years, that was a big shift on the whole group.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 27 Sep. 2024
  • But it's been rising steadily over the last couple of years.
    — Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Over the last couple of years, Ngannou switched over to the sweet science: boxing.
    — Patrick Snell, CNN, 18 Oct. 2024
  • And that became a huge firestorm of criticism for Google over the last couple of weeks.
    — Michael Calore Lauren Goode, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Teachers over the last couple of years have gone on wildcat strikes.
    — Ashley Cullins, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Aug. 2023
  • For me, The Masked Singer is really the glue that held me together for the last couple of months.
    — Joelle Goldstein, Peoplemag, 21 Dec. 2023
  • Sorry for the sporadic posting the last couple of months.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
  • The cause is the same as the last couple of delays: a leak of helium from the craft’s service module.
    — Melvin Backman, Quartz, 22 May 2024
  • Michigan has made the playoff the last couple of years by beating Ohio State.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2023
  • It’s only been in the last couple of years that the river has become a problem.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Marvel has had a lot of high-profile failures over the last couple of years.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2024
  • Through its proxies, Iran has attacked the United States more than 150 times in the last couple of months.
    — Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 27 Jan. 2024
  • Across the country, Girl Scout troops have been seeing jumps in cookie prices over the last couple of years.
    — Julie Creswell, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2024
  • Over the last couple of years, a mystery has been brewing in this small mountain town.
    — Dara Kerr, NPR, 28 Feb. 2024
  • In the last couple of years, at least 25 new businesses opened, including body shops, upholstery shops, and apparel shops, Mr. Gonzalez said.
    — Fernanda Figueroa and Melissa Perez Winder, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the last/previous couple of.' 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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