choir

[ kwahyuhr ]

/ kwaɪər /

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See synonyms for: choir / choired / choiring on Thesaurus.com

noun

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

any group of musicians or musical instruments; a musical company, or band, or a division of one: string choir.

Architecture.

the part of a church occupied by the singers of the choir.
the part of a cruciform church east of the crossing.

(in medieval angelology) one of the orders of angels.

adjective

professed to recite or chant the divine office: a choir monk.

verb (used with or without object)

to sing or sound in chorus.

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Which of the following colors is used to symbolize AIR?

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green

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Also Archaic, quire .

Origin of choir

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus “choir,” replacing Old English chor, from Latin; see chorus

OTHER WORDS FROM choir

choirlike, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH choir

choir , quire

Words nearby choir

Choctawhatchee, Choëphori, chog, Chogyal, choice, choir, choirboy, choirgirl, choir loft, choirmaster, choir school

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use choir in a sentence

Singing and talking, particularly when done loudly, are risky activities, as researchers learned from the Washington choir practice that became a Covid-19 superspreader event.
As theater innovates worldwide, Broadway’s lights will stay off|Alexandra Ossola|October 9, 2020|Quartz
Experts have pointed to the spread of the virus in choirs, buses, fitness classes and other poorly ventilated spaces.
CDC says airborne transmission plays a role in coronavirus spread in a long-awaited update after a website error last month|Lena H. Sun, Ben Guarino|October 5, 2020|Washington Post
If you look at superspreading events, for example the Washington choir case, it is impossible they are being spread by droplets.
This scientist made a Google Doc to educate the public about airborne coronavirus transmission|Niall Firth|October 2, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In one notorious case, a single person at a choir practice in Washington state infected 52 others, leading to two deaths.
Why Vienna opera singers are ready to risk their lives to perform in a pandemic|Julia Belluz|September 30, 2020|Vox

A database of Covid-19 superspreading events around the world lists numerous choir practices and a few concerts as sources of contagion.
Why Vienna opera singers are ready to risk their lives to perform in a pandemic|Julia Belluz|September 30, 2020|Vox
I know the verse because Mrs. Bertalan used to have us do it in ninth-grade choir.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Here it is being performed by the Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But I was a choir geek, and then got frustrated and took an acting class and realized that was the thing for me.
Michael C. Hall on Going Drag for ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and Exorcising ‘Dexter’|Marlow Stern|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was in the vestry where the choir was putting on its garments.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween|Joseph Campbell|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then, as I sat here on this “throne,” this beautiful choir struck my ears and senses.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween|Joseph Campbell|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The steady use of the organ for an hour-and-a-half's choir rehearsal would exhaust the batteries.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller
When fifteen he became voluntary organist and choir-master to the Birkenhead School Chapel.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller
B'lieves in candles and vestures; got Tim into the choir one Sunday, and now you can't keep him out of it.
The Cromptons|Mary J. Holmes
The body is an octagon of thirty-two feet diameter; and the choir, of the same shape, is twenty-one feet in diameter.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham
This is also a good point from which to study the clerestory as seen in choir and crossing.
Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey|Thomas Perkins

British Dictionary definitions for choir

choir

/ (kwaɪə) /

noun

an organized group of singers, esp for singing in church services

the part of a cathedral, abbey, or church in front of the altar, lined on both sides with benches, and used by the choir and clergyCompare chancel
(as modifier)choir stalls

a number of instruments of the same family playing togethera brass choir

Also called: choir organ one of the manuals on an organ controlling a set of soft sweet-toned pipesCompare great (def. 21), swell (def. 16)

any of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology

Archaic spelling: quire

Derived forms of choir

choirlike, adjective

Word Origin for choir

C13 quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

choir

Origin of choir

OTHER WORDS FROM choir

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH choir

Words nearby choir

Words related to choir

How to use choir in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for choir

Derived forms of choir

Word Origin for choir