Adjacent Words

Course definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COURSE, n.
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, etc.
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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings; "he took a course in basket weaving"; "flirting is not unknown in college classes" [syn: course, course of study, course of instruction, class]
2: a connected series of events or actions or developments; "the government took a firm course"; "historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available" [syn: course, line]
3: general line of orientation; "the river takes a southern course"; "the northeastern trend of the coast" [syn: course, trend]
4: a mode of action; "if you persist in that course you will surely fail"; "once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place" [syn: course, course of action]
5: a line or route along which something travels or moves; "the hurricane demolished houses in its path"; "the track of an animal"; "the course of the river" [syn: path, track, course]
6: a body of students who are taught together; "early morning classes are always sleepy" [syn: class, form, grade, course]
7: part of a meal served at one time; "she prepared a three course meal"
8: (construction) a layer of masonry; "a course of bricks" [syn: course, row]
9: facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport; "the course had only nine holes"; "the course was less than a mile" v
1: move swiftly through or over; "ships coursing the Atlantic"
2: move along, of liquids; "Water flowed into the cave"; "the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi" [syn: run, flow, feed, course]
3: hunt with hounds; "He often courses hares" adv
1: as might be expected; "naturally, the lawyer sent us a huge bill" [syn: naturally, of course, course] [ant: unnaturally]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French curs, course, from Latin cursus, from currere to run — more at car Date: 14th century 1. the act or action of moving in a path from point to point 2. the path over which something moves or extends: as a. racecourse b. (1) the direction of travel of a vehicle (as a ship or airplane) usually measured as a clockwise angle from north; also the projected path of travel (2) a point of the compass c. watercourse d. golf course 3. a. accustomed procedure or normal action <the law taking its course> b. a chosen manner of conducting oneself ; way of acting <our wisest course is to retreat> c. (1) progression through a development or period or a series of acts or events (2) life history, career 4. an ordered process or succession: as a. a number of lectures or other matter dealing with a subject; also a series of such courses constituting a curriculum <a premed course> b. a series of doses or medications administered over a designated period 5. a. a part of a meal served at one time <the main course> b. layer; especially a continuous level range of brick or masonry throughout a wall c. the lowest sail on a square-rigged mast II. verb (coursed; coursing) Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to follow close upon ; pursue 2. a. to hunt or pursue (game) with hounds b. to cause (dogs) to run (as after game) 3. to run or move swiftly through or over ; traverse <jets coursed the area daily> intransitive verb to run or pass rapidly along or as if along an indicated path <blood coursing through the veins>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) The intended direction of movement in the horizontal plane.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a continuous onward movement or progression. 2 a a line along which a person or thing moves; a direction taken (has changed course; the course of the winding river). b a correct or intended direction or line of movement. c the direction taken by a ship or aircraft. 3 a the ground on which a race (or other sport involving extensive linear movement) takes place. b a series of fences, hurdles, or other obstacles to be crossed in a race etc. 4 a a series of lectures, lessons, etc., in a particular subject. b a book for such a course (A Modern French Course). 5 any of the successive parts of a meal. 6 Med. a sequence of medical treatment etc. (prescribed a course of antibiotics). 7 a line of conduct (disappointed by the course he took). 8 Archit. a continuous horizontal layer of brick, stone, etc., in a building. 9 a channel in which water flows. 10 the pursuit of game (esp. hares) with hounds, esp. greyhounds, by sight rather than scent. 11 Naut. a sail on a square-rigged ship (fore course; main course). --v. 1 intr. (esp. of liquid) run, esp. fast (blood coursed through his veins). 2 tr. (also absol.) a use (hounds) to hunt. b pursue (hares etc.) in hunting. Phrases and idioms: the course of nature ordinary events or procedure. in course of in the process of. in the course of during. in the course of time as time goes by; eventually. a matter of course the natural or expected thing. of course naturally; as is or was to be expected; admittedly. on (or off) course following (or deviating from) the desired direction or goal. run (or take) its course (esp. of an illness) complete its natural development. Derivatives: courser n. (in sense 2 of v.). Etymology: ME f. OF cours f. L cursus f. currere curs- run

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Course Course, v. 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. --Shak. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Course Course (k?rs), n. [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. --Shak. 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. --Shak. 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. In course, in regular succession. Of course, by consequence; as a matter of course; in regular or natural order. In the course of, at same time or times during. ``In the course of human events.'' --T. Jefferson. Syn: Way; road; route; passage; race; series; succession; manner; method; mode; career; progress.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Course Course, v. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(courses, coursing, coursed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Course is often used in the expression 'of course', or instead of 'of course' in informal spoken English. See of course. 2. The course of a vehicle, especially a ship or aircraft, is the route along which it is travelling. Aircraft can avoid each other by going up and down, as well as by altering course to left or right... The tug was seaward of the Hakai Passage on a course that diverged from the Calvert Island coastline. N-UNCOUNT: also a N 3. A course of action is an action or a series of actions that you can do in a particular situation. My best course of action was to help Gill by being loyal, loving and endlessly sympathetic... Vietnam is trying to decide on its course for the future. N-COUNT: usu sing 4. You can refer to the way that events develop as, for example, the course of history or the course of events. ...a series of decisive naval battles which altered the course of history... N-SING: the N of n 5. A course is a series of lessons or lectures on a particular subject. ...a course in business administration... I'm shortly to begin a course on the modern novel. N-COUNT: oft N in/on n see also access course, correspondence course, refresher course, sandwich course 6. A course of medical treatment is a series of treatments that a doctor gives someone. Treatment is supplemented with a course of antibiotics to kill the bacterium... N-COUNT: N of n 7. A course is one part of a meal. The lunch was excellent, especially the first course. ...a three-course dinner. N-COUNT: usu supp N 8. In sport, a course is an area of land where races are held or golf is played, or the land over which a race takes place. Only 12 seconds separated the first three riders on the Bickerstaffe course... N-COUNT: usu with supp 9. The course of a river is the channel along which it flows. Romantic chateaux and castles overlook the river's twisting course. N-COUNT 10. If something happens in the course of a particular period of time, it happens during that period of time. In the course of the 1930s steel production in Britain approximately doubled... We struck up a conversation, in the course of which it emerged that he was a sailing man. = during PREP-PHRASE 11. If you do something as a matter of course, you do it as part of your normal work or way of life. If police are carrying arms as a matter of course then doesn't it encourage criminals to carry them? PHRASE: PHR after v 12. If a ship or aircraft is on course, it is travelling along the correct route. If it is off course, it is no longer travelling along the correct route. The ill fated ship was sent off course into shallow waters and rammed by another vessel. PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR 13. If you are on course for something, you are likely to achieve it. The company is on course for profits of £20m in the next financial year. PREP-PHRASE: usu v-link PREP 14. If something runs its course or takes its course, it develops naturally and comes to a natural end. They estimated that between 17,000 and 20,000 cows would die before the epidemic had run its course... PHRASE: V inflects 15. If you stay the course, you finish something that you have started, even though it has become very difficult. The oldest president in American history had stayed the course for two terms. PHRASE: V inflects 16. If something changes or becomes true in the course of time, it changes or becomes true over a long period of time. In the course of time, many of their myths become entangled. PHRASE: PHR with cl 17. in due course: see due

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kors (from Latin cursus, "a running," "race," "voyage," "way"):

(1) euthudromeo, "forward or onward movement," as of a ship: "We made a straight course" (Ac 16:11; compare Ac 21:1); "We had finished our course." (the Revised Version (British and American) "voyage," Ac 21:7).

(2) A (prescribed or self-appointed) path, as of the sun: "Swift is the sun in his course" (1 Esdras 4:34); of the stars: "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera" (Jud 5:20 the King James Version) (see ASTRONOMY; ASTROLOGY); of a river (or irrigating canal?): "as willows by the watercourses" (Isa 44:4); of a race (techo "that the word of the Lord may have free course.") (the Revised Version (British and American) "may run") (2Th 3:1).

(3) A career in such a course (dromos): "I have finished my (the Revised Version (British and American) "the") course" (2Ti 4:7); "as John fulfilled (the Revised Version (British and American) "was fulfilling") his course" (Ac 13:25); "that I might finish (the Revised Version (British and American) "may accomplish") my course" (Ac 20:24).

(4) A way or manner, as of life: "Every one turned to his course" (Jer 8:6); "their course is evil" (Jer 23:10); "walked according to the course aion, the Revised Version, [margin "age"] of this world" (Eph 2:2).

(5) Orderly succession: "sang together by course" (the American Standard Revised Version "sang one to another") (Ezr 3:11); "by course" (the Revised Version (British and American) "in turn") (1Co 14:27); the courses of the priests and Levites (1Ch 27:1-15; 1Ch 28:1; 2Ch 5:11; Lu 1:5,8).

See PRIESTS AND LEVITES.

(6) A row or layer, as of masonry: "All the foundations of the earth are out of count" (the Revised Version (British and American) "are moved"; the American Standard Revised Version "are shaken") (Ps 82:5).

(7) (The tongue) "setteth on fire the course (the Revised Version (British and American) "wheel") of nature" (Jas 3:6). The cycle of generation (ton trochon tes geneseos) here means the physical world as constituted by the round of origin and decay, and typified by the Orphic (legendary) cycle of births and deaths through which the soul passes in metempsychosis.

See also GAMES.

William Arthur Heidel

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Race, career. 2. Route, way, track, road. 3. Direction, bearing, point of compass, line of progress, path, track. 4. Round, beat. 5. Progress, process. 6. Regularity, order, succession, turn. 7. Deportment, conduct, behavior, line of conduct, manner of proceeding. 8. Series, system, methodical arrangement. 9. Set of dishes (at a banquet). II. v. a. Pursue, hunt, chase, run after, give chase to. III. v. n. Run, move swiftly.

Moby Thesaurus

Brownian movement, Indian file, MO, Zeitgeist, academic specialty, act, adit, advance, advancement, advancing, affluence, afflux, affluxion, agora, aim, air lane, algorithm, ambit, amphitheater, angular motion, antepast, approach, aqueduct, archery ground, area, arena, array, arsis, articulation, ascending, ascent, assuredly, athletic field, attack, auditorium, axial motion, azimuth, backflowing, background, backing, backward motion, badminton court, band, bank, baseball field, basketball court, bear garden, bearing, beat, bed, bedding, belt, bent, billiard parlor, boil, bout, bowl, bowling alley, bowling green, boxing ring, broil, bull ring, buzz, by all means, campaign, campus, canal, canvas, career, casserole, catena, catenation, certainly, chain, chain reaction, chaining, channel, chase, circle, circuit, circus, class, classical education, climbing, cockpit, coliseum, colosseum, commutation, commute, compass direction, concatenation, concourse, condensation trail, conduct, conduit, confluence, conflux, connection, consecution, continuum, contrail, core curriculum, couche, course of action, course of study, court, cover, cover ground, creed, cricket ground, croquet ground, croquet lawn, crosscurrent, crossing, cruise, culinary masterpiece, culinary preparation, current, curriculum, cycle, dart, dash, deck, definitely, defluxion, descending, descent, design, dessert, diamond, diastole, direction, direction line, discipline, dish, dispatch, ditch, do, dog, downbeat, downflow, downpour, downward motion, drift, driftage, drive, drone, duct, ebb, ebbing, egress, elective, endless belt, endless round, entrance, entree, entremets, excursion, execution, exit, expedition, fairway, falcon, fare, fare forth, fashion, fetch, field, file, filiation, flight, flight path, flit, flood, floor, flow, flow back, flow in, flow out, flowing, fluency, flush, flux, follow the hounds, football field, form, forum, forward motion, forwardal, forwarding, fowl, fry, furtherance, furthering, gallery, gamut, gang, general education, general studies, glacial movement, glaciarium, globe-trotting, go, go along, go hunting, go over, go-ahead, going, golf course, golf links, gradation, grand tour, gridiron, grill, ground, guiding principles, guise, gun, gush, gym, gymnasium, hall, hasten, hawk, heading, headway, helmsmanship, help, helping, hie, hippodrome, hound, hum, humanities, hunt, hunt down, hurry, hustle, ice rink, inclination, indubitably, infield, inflow, ingress, issue, itinerary, jack, jacklight, jaunt, journey, journeying, junket, lay, layer, lecture, ledge, leg, level, liberal arts, lie, line, line of action, line of direction, line of march, lineage, lines, links, lists, locale, locomotion, main current, main dish, mainstream, major, make, manner, manner of working, march, marketplace, mat, means, measure, measures, method, methodology, milieu, mill run, millrace, minor, mode, mode of operation, mode of procedure, modus operandi, monotone, motion, mounting, move, move along, move on, movement, moving, naturally, navigation, nexus, no doubt, oblique motion, obviously, ocean trip, of course, ongoing, onrush, onward course, open forum, orbit, order, orientation, outfield, outflow, outing, oval, overlayer, overpass, overstory, package tour, palaestra, parade ground, pass, pass over, pass through, passage, passageway, path, patrol, pattern, pendulum, perambulate, peregrinate, peregrination, pererrate, performance, periodicity, pilgrimage, piloting, piste, pit, place, plan, plan of action, plate, platform, playground, playing field, playroom, pleasure trip, plenum, plunging, ply, point, policy, polity, polo ground, pool hall, poolroom, portion, position paper, positively, pour, powder train, practice, precinct, primrose path, principles, prize ring, procedure, proceeding, process, program, progress, progression, progressiveness, promotion, proseminar, prowl after, public square, pulse, purlieu, putting green, quadrivium, quarter, queue, race, racecourse, racket court, radial motion, random motion, range, range over, rank, reconnoiter, recurrence, reflowing, refluence, reflux, refresher course, regression, regurgitate, reticulation, retrogression, revolution, ride to hounds, ring, rink, rising, road, roast, roll, roll on, rolling, rolling on, rotation, round, round trip, route, routine, row, rubberneck tour, run, rush, safari, sail, sally, sashay, scale, scamper, scene, scene of action, scenery, scent, scheme, scientific education, scoot, scope, scour, scour the country, scout, scurry, sea lane, sea trip, seam, second helping, seminar, sequel, sequence, series, service, serving, set, setting, shakedown cruise, shelf, shikar, shoot, shortcut, side dish, sideward motion, signs, single file, sinking, site, skating rink, soaring, soccer field, spate, specialty, spectrum, speed, spell, sphere, spoor, sport, sprint, squared circle, squash court, stadium, stage, stage set, stage setting, stalk, start, steerage, steering, step, sternway, still-hunt, story, stratum, stream, stretch, string, study, style, subdiscipline, subject, subsiding, substratum, succession, superstratum, sure, surely, surge, surge back, swath, sweep, swing, system, systole, tack, tear, technical education, technique, tendency, tennis court, tenor, terrain, the drill, the general tendency, the how, the main course, the way of, theater, thesis, thickness, thread, tide, tier, tilting ground, tiltyard, time spirit, tone, topsoil, tour, tourism, touristry, traces, track, trade route, trail, train, traject, trajectory, trajet, transit, travel, travel over, travel through, traveling, traverse, trek, trench, trend, trip, trivium, trough, troughing, troughway, tunnel, turf, turn, undercurrent, underlayer, understory, understratum, undertow, undoubtedly, upbeat, upward motion, vapor trail, vector, voyage, wake, walk, water flow, watercourse, way, wayfare, wend, wheel, windrow, wise, wrestling ring, zone