corps
Americannoun
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Military.
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a military organization consisting of officers and enlisted personnel or of officers alone: corps of cadets.
the U.S. Marine Corps;
corps of cadets.
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Also called army corps. a military unit of ground combat forces consisting of two or more divisions and other troops.
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a group of persons associated or acting together.
the diplomatic corps;
the press corps.
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Printing. a Continental designation that, preceded by a number, indicates size of type in Didot points of 0.0148 inch (3.8 millimeters).
14 corps.
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Obsolete. corpse.
noun
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a military formation that comprises two or more divisions and additional support arms
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a military body with a specific function
intelligence corps
medical corps
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a body of people associated together
the diplomatic corps
Etymology
Origin of corps
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English corps, cors, from Middle French, from Latin corpus “body”; see also corpse
Explanation
A corps is an army unit consisting of at least two divisions. This word can also refer to other groups of people, like a press corps, which is a gang of journalists trying to get the scoop. Although the word corps comes from the Latin corpus, for “body,” don’t pronounce the p or you’re talking about the kind of body that goes in a coffin. The main meaning of a corps (which is singular despite the s) is a unit of the army. The word applies to other groups, too. A law firm has a corps of lawyers, a doctor has a corps of nurses, and a tiny car could have a corps of clowns.
Vocabulary lists containing corps
Body Language: Corp ("Body")
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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.
The Fed press corps, in typical fashion, will focus heavily on Mr. Warsh’s relationship with Mr. Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
Some in the press corps, exhausted and rattled after a gunman interrupted their dinner, were grateful for the crumbs.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
And within hours, the president was at the White House calling for unity, offering overtures to a press corps that he had long clashed with.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026
Feinberg picked a new class of portfolio managers from the general officer corps to oversee particularly expensive weapons programs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
He had been posed so often that he seemed to know what was wanted of him when the press corps buzzed around, prompting the reporters to dub him “Movie Star.”
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
