cord

[kawrd]

noun

1. a string or thin rope made of several strands braided, twisted, or woven together.

2. Electricity.,  a small, flexible, insulated cable.

3. a ribbed fabric, especially corduroy.

4. a cordlike rib on the surface of cloth.

5. any influence that binds or restrains.

   cord of marriage.

6. Anatomy.,  a cordlike structure.

   the spinal cord;

   umbilical cord.

7. a unit of volume used chiefly for fuel wood, now generally equal to 128 cu. ft. (3.6 cu. m), usually specified as 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high (2.4 m × 1.2 m × 1.2 meters). cd, cd.

8. a hangman's rope.

verb (used with object)

1. to bind or fasten with a cord or cords.

2. to pile or stack up (wood) in cords.

3. to furnish with a cord.

cord

/ kɔːd /

noun

1. string or thin rope made of several twisted strands

2. a length of woven or twisted strands of silk, etc, sewn on clothing or used as a belt

3. a ribbed fabric, esp corduroy

4. any influence that binds or restrains

5. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): flex. a flexible insulated electric cable, used esp to connect appliances to mains

6. anatomy any part resembling a string or rope

   the spinal cord

7. a unit of volume for measuring cut wood, equal to 128 cubic feet

verb

1. to bind or furnish with a cord or cords

2. to stack (wood) in cords

Other Word Forms

• corder noun
• cordlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cord¹

1250–1300; Middle English coord ( e ) < Anglo-French, Old French corde < Latin chorda < Greek chordḗ gut; confused in part of its history with chord ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cord¹

C13: from Old French corde, from Latin chorda cord, from Greek khordē; see _chord ¹

Example Sentences

“A lot of that comes from not fully understanding that we’re not connected directly to that plant with a cord—that we’re part of this larger grid,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

More than 40 million pay-TV customer homes have cut the cord over the last decade, according to industry data.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“There’s still a massive amount of cord cutting going on,” Eiley said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

To achieve this, one part of the project will label sensory neurons and use whole-body imaging to trace their routes from the spinal cord to different organs, producing a high-resolution 3D map.

Read more on Science Daily

Multiple sclerosis is an "autoimmune" disease, which happens when the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord by mistake.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fiber 
• string 
• twine