Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Course

Course

(kōrs)
,
Noun.
[F.
cours
,
course
, L. cursus, fr.
currere
to run. See
Current
.]
1.
The act of moving from one point to another; progress; passage.
And when we had finished our
course
from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais.
Acts xxi. 7.
2.
The ground or path traversed; track; way.
The same horse also run the round
course
at Newmarket.
Pennant.
3.
Motion, considered as to its general or resultant direction or to its goal; line progress or advance.
A light by which the Argive squadron steers
Their silent
course
to Ilium’s well known shore.
Dennham.
Westward the
course
of empire takes its way.
Berkeley.
4.
Progress from point to point without change of direction; any part of a progress from one place to another, which is in a straight line, or on one direction;
as, a ship in a long voyage makes many
courses
; a
course
measured by a surveyor between two stations
; also, a progress without interruption or rest; a heat;
as, one
course
of a race
.
5.
Motion considered with reference to manner; or derly progress; procedure in a certain line of thought or action;
as, the
course
of an argument
.
The
course
of true love never did run smooth.
Shakespeare
6.
Customary or established sequence of events; recurrence of events according to natural laws.
By
course
of nature and of law.
Davies.
Day and night,
Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,
Shall hold their
course
.
Milton.
7.
Method of procedure; manner or way of conducting; conduct; behavior.
My lord of York commends the plot and the general
course
of the action.
Shakespeare
By perseverance in the
course
prescribed.
Wodsworth.
You hold your
course
without remorse.
Tennyson.
8.
A series of motions or acts arranged in order; a succession of acts or practices connectedly followed;
as, a
course
of medicine; a
course
of lectures on chemistry
.
9.
The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.
He appointed . . . the
courses
of the priests
2 Chron. viii. 14.
10.
That part of a meal served at one time, with its accompaniments.
He [Goldsmith] wore fine clothes, gave dinners of several
courses
, paid court to venal beauties.
Macaulay.
11.
(Arch.)
A continuous level range of brick or stones of the same height throughout the face or faces of a building.
Gwilt.
12.
(Naut.)
The lowest sail on any mast of a square-rigged vessel;
as, the fore
course
, main
course
, etc.
13.
pl.
(Physiol.)
The menses.
Syn. – Way; road; route; passage; race; series; succession; manner; method; mode; career; progress.

Course

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Coursed
(k?rst)
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Coursing
.]
1.
To run, hunt, or chase after; to follow hard upon; to pursue.
We
coursed
him at the heels.
Shakespeare
2.
To cause to chase after or pursue game;
as, to
course
greyhounds after deer
.
3.
To run through or over.
The bounding steed
courses
the dusty plain.
Pope.

Course

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To run as in a race, or in hunting; to pursue the sport of coursing;
as, the sportsmen
coursed
over the flats of Lancashire
.
2.
To move with speed; to race;
as, the blood
courses
through the veins
.
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Course

COURSE

,
Noun.
1.
In its general sense, a passing; a moving, or motion forward, in a direct or curving line; applicable to any body or substance, solid or fluid.
Applied to animals, a running, or walking; a race; a career; a passing, or passage, with any degree of swiftness indefinitely.
Applied to fluids, a flowing, as in a stream in any direction; as a straight course, or winding course. It is applied to water or other liquids, to air or wind, and to light, in the sense of motion or passing.
Applied to solid bodies, it signifies motion or passing; as the course of a rolling stone; the course of a carriage; the course of the earth in its orbit.
Applied to navigation, it signifies a passing or motion on water, or in balloons in air; a voyage.
2.
The direction of motion; line of advancing; point of compass, in which motion is directed; as, what course shall the pilot steer? In technical language, the angel contained between the nearest meridian and that point of compass on which a ship sails in any direction.
3.
Ground on which a race is run.
4.
A passing or process; the progress of any thing; as the course of an argument, or of a debate; a course of thought or reflexion.
5.
Order of proceeding or of passing from an ancestor to an heir; as the course of descent in inheritance.
6.
Order; turn; class; succession of one to another in office, or duty.
The chief fathers of every course. 1 Chronicles 27.
Solomon appointed the courses of the priests. 2 Chronicles 8.
7.
Stated and orderly method of proceeding; usual manner. He obtained redress in due course of law. Leave nature to her course.
8.
Series of successive and methodical procedure; a train of acts, or applications; as a course of medicine administered.
9.
A methodical series, applied to the arts or sciences; a systemized order of principles in arts or sciences, for illustration of instruction. We say, the author has completed a course of principles or of lectures in philosophy. Also, the order pursued by a student; as, he has completed a course of studies in law or physics.
10.
Manner of proceeding; way of life or conduct; deportment; series of actions.
That I might finish my course with joy. Acts 20.
Their course is evil. Jeremiah 23.
11.
Line of conduct; manner of proceeding; as, we know not what course to pursue.
12.
Natural bent; propensity; uncontrolled will. Let not a perverse child take his own course.
13.
Tilt; act of running in the lists.
14.
Orderly structure; system.
The tongue setteth on fire the course of nature. James 3.
15.
Any regular series. In architecture, a continued range of stones, level or of the same highth, throughout the whole length of the building, and not interrupted by any aperture. A laying of bricks, &c.
16.
The dishes set on table at one time; service of meat.
17.
Regularity; order; regular succession; as, let the classes follow in course.
18.
Empty form; as, compliments are often words of course.
Of course, by consequence; in regular or natural order; in the common manner of proceeding; without specila direction or provision. This effect will follow of course. If the defendant resides no in the state, the cause is continued of course.

Definition 2024

course

course

See also: coursé and 'course

English

Pronunciation

Noun

course ‎(plural courses)

  1. A sequence of events.
    The normal course of events seems to be just one damned thing after another.‎
    1. A normal or customary sequence.
      • Shakespeare
        The course of true love never did run smooth.
      • Milton
        Day and night, / Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course.
    2. A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding.
    3. Any ordered process or sequence or steps.
    4. A learning program, as in a school.
      I need to take a French course.‎
      • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
        During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
      • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
        Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
    5. (especially in medicine) A treatment plan.
    6. A stage of a meal.
      We offer seafood as the first course.‎
    7. The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.
      • Bible, 2 Chron. viii. 14
        He appointed […] the courses of the priests.
  2. A path that something or someone moves along.
    His illness ran its course.‎
    1. The itinerary of a race.
      The cross-country course passes the canal.‎
    2. A racecourse.
    3. The path taken by a flow of water; a watercourse.
    4. (sports) The trajectory of a ball, frisbee etc.
    5. (golf) A golf course.
    6. (nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.
      The ship changed its course 15 degrees towards south.‎
    7. (navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.
      A course was plotted to traverse the ocean.‎
  3. (nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.
    Main course and mainsail are the same thing in a sailing ship.‎
  4. (in the plural, courses, obsolete, euphemistic) Menses.
  5. A row or file of objects.
    1. (masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.
      On a building that size, two crews could only lay two courses in a day.‎
    2. (roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.
    3. (textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.
  6. (music) A string on a lute.
  7. (music) A pair of strings played together in some musical instruments, like the vihuela.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

course ‎(third-person singular simple present courses, present participle coursing, simple past and past participle coursed)

  1. To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood).
    The oil coursed through the engine.
    Blood pumped around the human body courses throughout all its veins and arteries.
    • 2013, Martina Hyde, Is the pope Catholic? (in The Guardian, 20 September 2013)
      He is a South American, so perhaps revolutionary spirit courses through Francis's veins. But what, pray, does the Catholic church want with doubt?
  2. To run through or over.
    • Alexander Pope
      The bounding steed courses the dusty plain.
  3. To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after.
    • Shakespeare
      We coursed him at the heels.
  4. To cause to chase after or pursue game.
    to course greyhounds after deer
Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of of course

Adverb

course ‎(not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of of course

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: thou · full · country · #220: course · side · small · cannot

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus ‎(“course of a race”), from currō ‎(“run”).

Pronunciation

Noun

course f ‎(plural courses)

  1. race
  2. errand

Usage notes

  • course is a false friend,it does not mean "course".To translate English word "course" to French,use "cours"

Derived terms

Anagrams

Norman

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus ‎(“course of a race”), from currō ‎(“run”).

Noun

course f ‎(plural courses)

  1. (Jersey) course

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus ‎(“course of a race”), from currō ‎(“run”).

Similar Results