COURSE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does course mean? 

• COURSE (noun)
  The noun COURSE has 9 senses:

1. education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings

2. a connected series of events or actions or developments

3. general line of orientation

4. a mode of action

5. a line or route along which something travels or moves

6. a body of students who are taught together

7. part of a meal served at one time

8. (construction) a layer of masonry

9. facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport

  Familiarity information: COURSE used as a noun is familiar.

• COURSE (verb)
  The verb COURSE has 3 senses:

1. move swiftly through or over

2. move along, of liquids

3. hunt with hounds

  Familiarity information: COURSE used as a verb is uncommon.

• COURSE (adverb)
  The adverb COURSE has 1 sense:

1. as might be expected

  Familiarity information: COURSE used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COURSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

class; course; course of instruction; course of study

Context example:

flirting is not unknown in college classes

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

didactics; education; educational activity; instruction; pedagogy; teaching (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

Meronyms (parts of "course"):

coursework (work assigned to and done by a student during a course of study; usually it is evaluated as part of the student's grade in the course)

lesson (a unit of instruction)

lecture; lecturing (teaching by giving a discourse on some subject (typically to a class))

class period; course session; recitation (a regularly scheduled session as part of a course of study)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

adult education (a course (via lectures or correspondence) for adults who are not otherwise engaged in formal study)

workshop (a brief intensive course for a small group; emphasizes problem solving)

shop; shop class (a course of instruction in a trade (as carpentry or electricity))

seminar (a course offered for a small group of advanced students)

required course (a course that all students are required to take)

refresher; refresher course (a course that reviews and updates a topic for those who have not kept abreast of developments)

propaedeutic; propaedeutics (a course that provides an introduction to an art or science (or to more advanced study generally))

orientation; orientation course (a course introducing a new situation or environment)

industrial arts (a course in the methods of using tools and machinery as taught in secondary schools and technical schools)

home study (a course of study carried out at home rather than in a classroom)

extension course (a course offered as part of an extension service)

elective; elective course (a course that the student can select from among alternatives)

directed study (a course of study that is supervised and controlled by a specialist in the subject)

course of lectures (a series of lectures dealing with a subject)

correspondence course (a course offered (by mail) by a correspondence school)

childbirth-preparation class (a course that teaches pregnant women to use breathing and concentration and exercise techniques to use during labor)

art class (a class in which you learn to draw or paint)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A connected series of events or actions or developments

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

course; line

Context example:

historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

series (similar things placed in order or happening one after another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

current; flow; stream (dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas)

Sense 3

Meaning:

General line of orientation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

course; trend

Context example:

the northeastern trend of the coast

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

direction; way (a line leading to a place or point)

Derivation:

course (move along, of liquids)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A mode of action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

course; course of action

Context example:

once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

collision course (a course of action (following a given idea) that will lead to conflict if it continues unabated)

blind alley ((figurative) a course of action that is unproductive and offers no hope of improvement)

path; way; way of life (a course of conduct)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A line or route along which something travels or moves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

course; path; track

Context example:

the course of the river

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

line (a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

belt; swath (a path or strip (as cut by one course of mowing))

trail (a track or mark left by something that has passed)

steps (the course along which a person has walked or is walking in)

round (the course along which communications spread)

inside track (the inner side of a curved racecourse)

collision course (a course of a moving object that will lead to a collision if it continues unchanged)

Derivation:

course (move swiftly through or over)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A body of students who are taught together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

class; course; form; grade

Context example:

early morning classes are always sleepy

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

assemblage; gathering (a group of persons together in one place)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

master class (a class (especially in music) given to talented students by an expert)

discussion section; section (a small class of students who are part of a larger course but are taught separately)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Part of a meal served at one time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Context example:

she prepared a three course meal

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

aliment; alimentation; nourishment; nutriment; nutrition; sustenance; victuals (a source of materials to nourish the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

afters; dessert; sweet (a dish served as the last course of a meal)

entree; main course (the principal dish of a meal)

appetiser; appetizer; starter (food or drink to stimulate the appetite (usually served before a meal or as the first course))

Holonyms ("course" is a part of...):

meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)

Sense 8

Meaning:

(construction) a layer of masonry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

course; row

Context example:

a course of bricks

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

bed; layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

damp-proof course; damp course (a course of some impermeable material laid in the foundation walls of building near the ground to prevent dampness from rising into the building)

row of bricks (a course of bricks place next to each other (usually in a straight line))

Holonyms ("course" is a part of...):

wall (an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the course was less than a mile

Hypernyms ("course" is a kind of...):

facility; installation (a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "course"):

golf course; links course (course consisting of a large landscaped area for playing golf)

racecourse; racetrack; raceway; track (a course over which races are run)

• COURSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they course    ... he / she / it courses   
Past simple: coursed   
Past participle: coursed   
-ing form: coursing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move swiftly through or over

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

ships coursing the Atlantic

Hypernyms (to "course" is one way to...):

cover; cross; cut across; cut through; get across; get over; pass over; track; traverse (travel across or pass over)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

course (a line or route along which something travels or moves)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move along, of liquids

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

course; feed; flow; run

Context example:

the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi

Hypernyms (to "course" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "course"):

gutter (flow in small streams)

ooze; seep (pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings)

drain; run out (flow off gradually)

dribble; filter; trickle (run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream)

stream; well out (flow freely and abundantly)

run out; spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)

pour (flow in a spurt)

run down (move downward)

run off; waste (run off as waste)

eddy; purl; swirl; whirl; whirlpool (flow in a circular current, of liquids)

circulate (move through a space, circuit or system, returning to the starting point)

surge; tide (rise or move forward)

gush; jet (issue in a jet; come out in a jet; stream or spring forth)

flush (flow freely)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

course (general line of orientation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hunt with hounds

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

He often courses hares

Hypernyms (to "course" is one way to...):

hunt; hunt down; run; track down (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

Domain category:

game (a contest with rules to determine a winner)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

coursing (hunting with dogs (usually greyhounds) that are trained to chase game (such as hares) by sight instead of by scent)

• COURSE (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

As might be expected

Synonyms:

course; naturally; of course

Context example:

naturally, the lawyer sent us a huge bill

 Context examples 

And ever out of the north-east the brave wind blows, driving us on our course two hundred and fifty miles between the dawns.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The vast majority of cases follow a benign clinical course.

(Angiomyolipoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The clinical course is typically aggressive.

(angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)

The clinical course follows a progression of neurologic disability and hepatic failure.

(Alper Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Clinical course may progress to bone marrow failure or acute myeloid leukemia that is refractory to treatment.

(Alkylating Agent-Related Myelodysplastic Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

For most patients, the clinical course includes a progression of neurologic disability and increased morbidity from autonomic dysfunction.

(Allgrove Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Of course it is possible that all may be well, but what may have happened?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

An associate's degree awarded to students who are permitted to relax some of the general education requirements in order to study more course work in their program area.

(Associate of Applied Science, NCI Thesaurus)

Most cases are slow growing tumors and have a prolonged course.

(Apocrine Gland Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Correct activity that produces an effect, or that is intended to alter the course of a disease in a patient or population.

(Appropriate Treatment, NCI Thesaurus/ACC)