course / kôrs/ • n. 1. [in sing.] the route or direction followed by a ship, aircraft, road, or river. ∎  the way in which something progresses or develops: the course of history. ∎  a procedure adopted to deal with a situation: the wisest course of action. ∎  the route of a race or similar sporting event. ∎  an area of land set aside and prepared for racing, golf, or another sport.2. a dish, or a set of dishes served together, forming one of the successive parts of a meal.3. a series, in particular: ∎  a series of lectures or lessons in a particular subject, typically leading to a qualification: a business studies course. ∎  Med. a series of repeated treatments or doses of medication.4. Archit. a continuous horizontal layer of brick, stone, or other material in a building.5. a pursuit of game (esp. hares) with greyhounds by sight rather than scent.6. the lowest sail on a square-rigged mast.7. a set of adjacent strings on a guitar, lute, etc., tuned to the same note.• v. 1. [intr.] (of liquid) move without obstruction; flow: tears were coursing down her cheeks | fig. exultation coursed through him. 2. [tr.] pursue (game, esp. hares) with greyhounds: many of the hares coursed escaped unharmed | [intr.] she would course for hares with her greyhounds. PHRASES: a matter of coursesee matter.in the course of —1. undergoing the specified process: a textbook was in the course of preparation.2. during the specified period: he was a friend to many people in the course of his life. ∎  during and as a part of the specified activity: they became friends in the course of their long walks.in due coursesee due.of course used to introduce an idea or turn of events as being obvious or to be expected. ∎  used to give or emphasize agreement or permission: “Can I see you for a minute?” “Of course.” ∎  introducing a qualification or admission: of course we've been in touch by phone, but I wanted to see things for myself.off course not following the intended route.on course following the intended route.run (or take) its course complete its natural development without interference: his illness had to run its course.

course. Any horizontal level range of bricks, stones, etc., placed according to some rule or order in the construction of a wall, laid evenly. Coursed rubble, for example, is roughly dressed stones of the same height laid in courses, unlike random rubble, which is uncoursed and requires ingenuity in getting the stones to bond. Thus coursed masonry has courses of dressed stones (ashlar) of the same height, yet each course may vary in height. Courses may be described by position or function:base or plinth, blocking (plain course above a cornice weighing down the ends of the cantilevered sections of stone), bond (with every stone, or stones at regular intervals, bonding a wall), lacing (as bond, but with continuous ranges of brick or tile, and with piers every two metres or so, used in a flint wall for bonding, levelling, and strengthening), and string-courses are some examples.

course running, onward movement; path, direction; progress, order XIII; set of dishes for a meal, one of the successive parts of a meal XIV; series, serial succession; sail attached to lower masts or yards XV. — (O)F. cours :- L. cursus, f. curs-, pp. stem of currere run (cf. CURRENT); reinforced XV by (O)F. course :- Rom. *cursa, sb. use of corr. fem. form of ppl.
Hence course vb. chase, hunt; cause to run; run about. XVI.

course. Term used of str. instrs., particularly lute family, guitar, etc., meaning a group of strs. tuned in unison or in the octave and plucked simultaneously so as to give extra loudness. In 16th cent., lutes had double-courses on lower strs. The single str. g′′ is called a course, thus lutes had 11 strs. in 6 courses. Bass-course is single or double str. running alongside fingerboard without crossing the frets and does not vary in pitch.