What is "course"

Course \Course\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Coursed (k?rst)); p. pr. & vb. n. Coursing.]

1. To run, hunt, or chase after; to follow hard upon; to pursue.

   We coursed him at the heels.
   --Shak.

2. To cause to chase after or pursue game; as, to course greyhounds after deer.

3. To run through or over.

   The bounding steed courses the dusty plain.
   --Pope.

Course \Course\, v. i.

1. To run as in a race, or in hunting; to pursue the sport of coursing; as, the sportsmen coursed over the flats of Lancashire.

2. To move with speed; to race; as, the blood courses through the veins.
   --Shak.

Course \Course\ (k[=o]rs), n. [F. cours, course, L. cursus, fr. currere to run. See Current.]

1. The act of moving from one point to another; progress; passage.

   And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais.
   --Acts xxi. 7.

2. The ground or path traversed; track; way.

   The same horse also run the round course at Newmarket.
   --Pennant.

3. Motion, considered as to its general or resultant direction or to its goal; line progress or advance.

   A light by which the Argive squadron steers Their silent course to Ilium's well known shore.
   --Dennham.

   Westward the course of empire takes its way.
   --Berkeley.

4. Progress from point to point without change of direction; any part of a progress from one place to another, which is in a straight line, or on one direction; as, a ship in a long voyage makes many courses; a course measured by a surveyor between two stations; also, a progress without interruption or rest; a heat; as, one course of a race.

5. Motion considered with reference to manner; or derly progress; procedure in a certain line of thought or action; as, the course of an argument.

   The course of true love never did run smooth.
   --Shak.

6. Customary or established sequence of events; recurrence of events according to natural laws.

   By course of nature and of law.
   --Davies.

   Day and night, Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course.
   --Milton.

7. Method of procedure; manner or way of conducting; conduct; behavior.

   My lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action.
   --Shak.

   By perseverance in the course prescribed.
   --Wodsworth.

   You hold your course without remorse.
   --Tennyson.

8. A series of motions or acts arranged in order; a succession of acts or practices connectedly followed; as, a course of medicine; a course of lectures on chemistry.

9. The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.

   He appointed . . . the courses of the priests
   --2 Chron. viii. 14.

10. That part of a meal served at one time, with its accompaniments.

    He [Goldsmith] wore fine clothes, gave dinners of several courses, paid court to venal beauties.
    --Macaulay.

11. (Arch.) A continuous level range of brick or stones of the same height throughout the face or faces of a building.
    --Gwilt.

12. (Naut.) The lowest sail on any mast of a square-rigged vessel; as, the fore course, main course, etc.

13. pl. (Physiol.) The menses.

    In course, in regular succession.

    Of course, by consequence; as a matter of course; in regular or natural order.

    In the course of, at same time or times during. ``In the course of human events.''
    --T. Jefferson.

    Syn: Way; road; route; passage; race; series; succession; manner; method; mode; career; progress.

late 13c., "onward movement," from Old French cors (12c.) "course; run, running; flow of a river," from Latin cursus "a running race or course," from curs- past participle stem of currere "to run" (see current (adj.)).\n

\nMost extended senses (meals, etc.) are present in 14c. Academic meaning "planned series of study" is c.1600 (in French from 14c.). Phrase of course is attested from 1540s; literally "of the ordinary course;" earlier in same sense was bi cours (c.1300).

16c., from course (n.). Related: Coursed; coursing.

adv. (context colloquial English) (alternative form of of course English) n. 1 A sequence of events. 2 # A normal or customary sequence. 3 # A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding. 4 # Any ordered process or sequence or steps. 5 # A learning program, as in a school. vb. 1 To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood). 2 To run through or over. 3 To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after. 4 To cause to chase after or pursue game.

adv. as might be expected; "naturally, the lawyer sent us a huge bill" [syn: naturally, of course] [ant: unnaturally]

1. v. move swiftly through or over; "ships coursing the Atlantic"

2. move along, of liquids; "Water flowed into the cave"; "the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi" [syn: run, flow, feed]

3. hunt with hounds; "He often courses hares"

1. n. education imparted in a series of lessons or class meetings; "he took a course in basket weaving"; "flirting is not unknown in college classes" [syn: course of study, course of instruction, class]

2. a connected series of events or actions or developments; "the government took a firm course"; "historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available" [syn: line]

3. facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport; "the course had only nine holes"; "the course was less than a mile"

4. a mode of action; "if you persist in that course you will surely fail"; "once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place" [syn: course of action]

5. a line or route along which something travels or moves; "the hurricane demolished houses in its path"; "the track of an animal"; "the course of the river" [syn: path, track]

6. general line of orientation; "the river takes a southern course"; "the northeastern trend of the coast" [syn: trend]

7. part of a meal served at one time; "she prepared a three course meal"

8. (construction) a layer of masonry; "a course of bricks" [syn: row]

In navigation, an object's course is the direction over the ground along which the object is currently moving.

A course, on a stringed musical instrument, is two or more adjacent strings that are closely spaced relative to the other strings, and typically played as a single string. The strings in each course are typically tuned in unison or an octave. Course may also refer to a single string normally played on its own on an instrument with other multi-string courses, for example the bass (lowest) string on a nine string baroque guitar.

An instrument with at least one (multiple string) course is referred to as coursed, while one whose strings are all played individually is uncoursed.

In sailing, a course is the lowermost sail on a mast.

This term is used predominantly in the plural to describe the lowest sails on a square rigged vessel, i.e., a ship's courses would be the foresail, mainsail, and, on the rare occasions in which one is shipped, mizzen. Gaff-rigged vessels may use the term (for the lowest sail rigged aft of each mast), but are more likely to refer simply to a mainsail, foresail, etc. A Bermuda- or lateen-rigged yacht, whether sloop, cutter, ketch or yawl, would not usually be described as having a course.

In higher education in Canada and the United States, a course is a unit of teaching that typically lasts one academic term, is led by one or more instructors ( teachers or professors), and has a fixed roster of students. It is usually an individual subject. Students may receive a grade and academic credit after completion of the course.

In the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore, as well as parts of Canada, a course is the entire programme of studies required to complete a university degree, and the word "unit" or "module" would be used to refer to an academic course as it is referred to in other parts of the world, for example North America and the rest of Europe.

In between the two, in South Africa, a course officially is the collection of all courses (in the American sense, these are often called "modules") over a year or semester, though the American usage is common. In the Philippines, a course can be an individual subject (usually referred to by faculty and school officials) or the entire programme (usually referred to by students and outsiders).

Courses in American universities are usually on a time constraint. Some courses are only a few weeks long, one semester long, last an academic year (two semesters), and even three semesters long. A course is usually specific to the students' major and is instructed by a professor. For example, if a person is taking an organic chemistry course, then the professor would teach the students organic chemistry and how it applies to their life and or major. Courses can also be referred to as "electives". An elective is usually not a required course, but there are a certain number of non-specific electives that are required for certain majors.

In medicine the term course generally takes one of two meanings, both reflecting the sense of "path that something or someone moves along...process or sequence or steps":

• A course of medication is a period of continual treatment with drugs, sometimes with variable dosage and in particular combinations. For instance treatment with some drugs should not end abruptly. Instead, their course should end with a tapering dosage.

:* Antibiotics: Taking the full course of antibiotics is important to prevent reinfection and/or development of drug-resistant bacteria.

:* Steroids: For both short-term and long-term steroid treatment, when stopping treatment, the dosage is tapered rather than abruptly ended. This permits the adrenal glands to resume the body's natural production of cortisol. Abrupt discontinuation can result in adrenal insufficiency; and/or steroid withdrawal syndrome (a rebound effect in which exaggerated symptoms return).

• The course of a disease, also called its natural history, refers to the development of the disease in a patient, including the sequence and speed of the stages and forms they take. Typical courses of diseases include:

:* chronic

:* recurrent or relapsing

:* subacute: somewhere between an acute and a chronic course

:* acute: beginning abruptly, intensifying rapidly, not lasting long

:* fulminant or peracute: particularly acute, especially if unusually violent

A patient may be said to be at the beginning, the middle or the end, or at a particular stage of the course of a disease or a treatment. A precursor is a sign or event that precedes the course or a particular stage in the course of a disease, for example chills often are precursors to fevers.

A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units (" concrete block").

An orienteering course is composed of a start point, a series of control points, and a finish point. Controls are marked with a white and orange flag in the terrain, and corresponding purple symbols on an orienteering map. The challenge is to complete the course by visiting all control points in the shortest possible time, aided only by the map and a compass.

In dining, a course is a specific set of food items that are served together during a meal, all at the same time. A course may include multiple dishes or only one, and often includes items with some variety of flavors. For instance, a hamburger served with fries would be considered a single course, and most likely the entire meal. Likewise, an extended banquet might include many courses, such as a course where a soup is served by itself, a course where cordon bleu is served at the same time as its garnish and perhaps a side dish, and later a dessert such as a pumpkin pie. Courses may vary in size as well as number depending on the culture where the meal takes place.

Meals are composed of one or more courses, which in turn are composed of one or more dishes.

Course can refer to:

• Course (navigation), the path of travel
• Course (sail), the principal sail on a mast of a sailing vessel
• Course (food), a set of one or more food items served at once during a meal
• Course (education), in the United States, a unit of instruction in one subject, lasting one academic term
• Course of study, in the Commonwealth of Nations and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a programme of education leading to a degree or diploma
• Course of employment, a legal consideration of all circumstances which may occur in the performance of a person's job
• Course (medicine), a regime of medical drugs, or the speed of evolution of a disease
• Course (music), a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and played together to give a single note, in a stringed instrument
• Course (architecture), a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material, in a wall
• String course, a continuous narrow horizontal course or moulding which projects slightly from the surface of a wall
• Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding purple symbols on the map
• Coursing is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs

Course may also refer to:

• Main course, the primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses
• Golf course, an area of land designated for the play of golf
• Obstacle course, a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual or team must navigate for sport
• Show jumping course, an equitation or equestrian obstacle course
• Race course, for the racing of people, animals, and vehicles
• La Course by Le Tour de France ("La Course"), a women's professional road course bicycle race that accompanies Le Tour (Tour de France).

Course was a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music by George Antheil. The piece sometimes appeared on programs as Course: One in Red; Three in Green; Two in Blue; Two in Red. It premiered on February 10, 1935, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. The ballet was performed by Martha Graham and Group, the forerunner to the Martha Graham Dance Company.