in heraldry, is used to express the head, or any limb, of an animal, cut off from the trunk, smooth; distinguishing it from that which is called e-

rased, that is, forcibly torn off, and therefore is ragged and uneven.

Couped is also used to signify such croffes, bars, bends, chevrons, &c. as do not touch the sides of the escutcheons, but are, as it were, cut off from them.