course
Americannoun
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a direction or route taken or to be taken.
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the path, route, or channel along which anything moves.
the course of a stream.
- Synonyms:
- bearing
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advance or progression in a particular direction; forward or onward movement.
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the continuous passage or progress through time or a succession of stages.
in the course of a year;
in the course of the battle.
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the track, ground, water, etc., on which a race is run, sailed, etc..
One runner fell halfway around the course.
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a particular manner of proceeding.
a course of action.
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a customary manner of procedure; regular or natural order of events.
the course of a disease.
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a mode of conduct; behavior.
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a systematized or prescribed series.
a course of lectures;
a course of medical treatments.
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a program of instruction, as in a college or university.
a course in economics.
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a prescribed number of instruction periods or classes in a particular field of study.
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a part of a meal served at one time.
The main course was roast chicken with mashed potatoes and peas.
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Navigation.
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the line along the earth's surface upon or over which a ship, an aircraft, etc., proceeds: described by its bearing with relation to true or magnetic north.
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a point of the compass.
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Nautical. the lowermost sail on a fully square-rigged mast: designated by a special name, as foresail or mainsail, or by the designation of the mast itself, as fore course or main course.
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Building Trades. a continuous and usually horizontal row of bricks, shingles, etc., as in a wall or roof.
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one of the pairs of strings on an instrument of the lute family, tuned in unison or in octaves to increase the volume.
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the row of stitches going across from side to side in knitting and other needlework (opposed to wale).
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Older Use. Often courses the periodic flow of blood and mucosal tissue from the uterus; a menstrual period.
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a charge by knights in a tournament.
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a pursuit of game with dogs by sight rather than by scent.
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a race.
verb (used with object)
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to run through or over.
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to chase; pursue.
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to hunt (game) with dogs by sight rather than by scent.
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to cause (dogs) to pursue game by sight rather than by scent.
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Masonry. to lay (bricks, stones, etc.) in continuous rows.
verb (used without object)
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to follow a direction, route, or path; direct one's path.
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to run, race, or move swiftly.
The blood of ancient emperors courses through his veins.
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to take part in a hunt with hounds, a tilting match, etc.
idioms
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of course,
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certainly; definitely.
Of course I'll come to the party.
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(used to convey that something is expected, unsurprising, or previously known).
The language of the Romans was, of course, Latin.
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in due course, in the proper or natural order of events; eventually.
They will get their comeuppance in due course.
noun
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a continuous progression from one point to the next in time or space; onward movement
the course of his life
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a route or direction followed
they kept on a southerly course
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the path or channel along which something moves
the course of a river
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( in combination )
a watercourse
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an area or stretch of land or water on which a sport is played or a race is run
a golf course
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a period of time; duration
in the course of the next hour
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the usual order of and time required for a sequence of events; regular procedure
the illness ran its course
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a mode of conduct or action
if you follow that course, you will certainly fail
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a connected series of events, actions, etc
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a prescribed number of lessons, lectures, etc, in an educational curriculum
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the material covered in such a curriculum
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a prescribed regimen to be followed for a specific period of time
a course of treatment
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a part of a meal served at one time
the fish course
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a continuous, usually horizontal, layer of building material, such as a row of bricks, tiles, etc
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nautical any of the sails on the lowest yards of a square-rigged ship
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knitting the horizontal rows of stitches Compare wale 1
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(in medieval Europe) a charge by knights in a tournament
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a hunt by hounds relying on sight rather than scent
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a match in which two greyhounds compete in chasing a hare
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the part or function assigned to an individual bell in a set of changes
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archaic a running race
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as a natural or normal consequence, mode of action, or event
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the ordinary course of events
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in the process of
the ship was in course of construction
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at some future time, esp the natural or appropriate time
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(adverb) as expected; naturally
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(sentence substitute) certainly; definitely
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(of something) to complete its development or action
verb
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(intr) to run, race, or flow, esp swiftly and without interruption
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to cause (hounds) to hunt by sight rather than scent or (of hounds) to hunt (a quarry) thus
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(tr) to run through or over; traverse
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(intr) to take a direction; proceed on a course
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coursesimple
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coursessimple
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have coursedperfect
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has coursedperfect
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am coursingprogressive
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are coursingprogressive
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is coursingprogressive
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have been coursingperfect progressive
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has been coursingperfect progressive
Past
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coursedsimple
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had coursedperfect
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was coursingprogressive
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were coursingprogressive
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had been coursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of course
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English co(u)rs (noun), from Anglo-French co(u)rs(e), Old French cours, from Latin cursus “race, path, orbit,” noun use of past participle of currere “to run”; cf. current ( def. )
Explanation
The noun course can refer to a series of lectures, discussions, or other lessons in a particular subject. To graduate from high school, you have to take certain courses in English, social studies, math, and science. Naturally, you want to pass them! The noun course can refer to a part of a meal. If you love chocolate, your favorite course will be dessert — it's a triple chocolate mousse! The noun course can also refer to an area laid out for a particular sport, as in a golf course or obstacle course. As a verb course can mean to move quickly over or through a certain path, especially some liquid, like when tears course down your cheeks at a sad movie. Don't confuse the spelling of course with coarse, which is an adjective meaning rough.
Vocabulary lists containing course
Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Unit 7, Week 1
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Week 3 Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Of course, we also go for stories that are larger than life, that traverse beyond this realm into a place that only movies can go.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
In the summer of 1954, no team was more fancied than Hungary's Magical Magyars with their swashbuckling superstars Sandor Kocsis, Nandor Hidegkuti and, of course, Ferenc Puskas.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The 100-year-old venue opened in 1925 as a vaudeville and silent movie house where Walt Disney previewed his animated shorts, but it changed identities many times over the course of its history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
He entered the tournament with 50,000 followers on Instagram, but left it with a massive 29.3 million over the course of a month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
We knew, of course, that there was an underground in Holland—or suspected it.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The businesses tied to outdoor leisure that are expected to benefit include golf courses, outdoor entertainment venues and providers of fishing charters.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
In that sense, it is a throwback to the old road courses that used to predominate on the calendar.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The study will also look at the high school courses UC requires for admission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The Quaker-inspired coalition also founded New York’s Strother School of Radical Attention, which offers courses and workshops on attention as a practice that, maintained and exerted, makes it easier to recognize and refuse such extraction.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
When I began to research this book, I already knew a great deal about art, had taught it in American culture courses, loved it, and spent much time in museums and galleries.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
If you throw in the rhetorical brilliance, the heart and the boundless wit that coursed through his greatest works, his pre-eminence is hard to challenge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
Overflowing rivers coursed through villages, sweeping away homes, roads and bridges and triggering landslides.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025
It's been three years now, but the 35-year-old school teacher has no trouble recalling the "pure shock" that coursed through when she and partner Kris Ventura, 33, opened the page.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025
A variant of that dread coursed through Green’s 2019 debut feature and earlier Garner-starring Telluride entry, “The Assistant,” a quietly damning psychological drama about the crimes of a Harvey Weinstein-style movie mogul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
We were pursued on every shore, hunted like foxes, coursed like hares.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Cook, who built Apple into a colossus with influence coursing through geopolitics, pop culture and the daily lives of billions of people, said he would step down as chief executive on Sept. 1.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
But now Nvidia’s stock is hot again, rising 2.4% in Friday’s session and coursing toward its eighth session in a row of gains.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
Williams said there were problems locally involving fly-grazing - where animals are left on land without permission - as well as hare coursing and poaching.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
I disliked Anton’s comment about how Ali could have been “twice” her size, but chalked it up to nerves and adrenaline that I imagine would be coursing through him in that moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
There’s a small creek of bloodred liquid coursing in front of us, serving as the boundary—and the entrance—into the creepy forest.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
