corps

[ kawr, kohr ]

/ kɔr, koʊr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR corps ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural corps [kawrz, kohrz] /kɔrz, koʊrz/.

Military.

a military organization consisting of officers and enlisted personnel or of officers alone: the U.S. Marine Corps; corps of cadets.
a military unit of ground combat forces consisting of two or more divisions and other troops.

a group of persons associated or acting together: the diplomatic corps; the press corps.

Printing. a Continental designation that, preceded by a number, indicates size of type in Didot points of 0.0148 inches (3.8 mm): 14 corps.

Obsolete. corpse.

Nearby words

corporatize, corporator, corporeal, corporeity, corposant, corps, corps de ballet, corps diplomatique, corps of engineers, corpse, corpsman

Origin of corps

1225–75; Middle English corps, cors < Middle French < Latin corpus body; see corpse

SYNONYMS FOR corps

2 team, force, crew, band.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR corps ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confused

core corp. corps corpse corpus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for corps

There were now five British corps in the British sector, and five American corps in the American sector.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was now almost impossible to speak of individual divisions in relation to these actions, but only of corps.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was deciding whether or not he wanted to stay in the Corps.
A Man to Believe In: Eulogy for Marine Master Sergeant Aaron Torian|Elliot Ackerman|March 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a Teach For America 2011 corps member, I spent the last two years teaching 5th grade at a charter school in Harlem.
A Teach for America Alum On How Testing Is Hurting Our Kids|Jonathan Sheehan|October 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The next COAS will come from the shadowy group of a dozen corps commanders who run the Army.
Pakistan’s Impossible Year: Elections, Army Intrigue, and More|Bruce Riedel|December 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The killer's head snapped up at mention of the Corps, and he stared harder and more suspiciously than ever into Hanlon's eyes.
Man of Many Minds|E. Everett Evans
We copy a description of the march of a regiment in Porter's corps.
The Seventh Regiment|George L. Wood
His commissary was attached to the Staff of the corps, over which waved the “yellow-blue flag.”
The Russian Turmoil|Anton Ivanovich Denikin
Grant now thought it best to attack the Confederate lines in front of Wright's corps.
Battles of the Civil War|Thomas Elbert Vineyard
Although reverses followed, the Corps maintained the reputation it had gained for steadiness and discipline.
The Life of Gordon, Volume I|Demetrius Charles Boulger

British Dictionary definitions for corps

corps

/ (kɔː) /

noun plural corps (kɔːz)

a military formation that comprises two or more divisions and additional support arms

a military body with a specific functionintelligence corps; medical corps

a body of people associated togetherthe diplomatic corps

Word Origin for corps

C18: from French, from Latin corpus body

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