course ◆◆◆ /kɔː r s/ (courses , coursing , coursed )
1 Course is often used in the expression 'of course', or instead of 'of course' in informal spoken English. See of course .
2 N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] The course of a vehicle, especially a ship or aircraft, is the route along which it is travelling. □ The pilot requested clearance to alter course to avoid the storm. □ The tug was seaward of the Hakai Passage on a course that diverged from the Calvert Island coastline.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A course of action is an action or a series of actions that you can do in a particular situation. □ [+ of ] My best course of action was to help Gill by being loyal, loving and endlessly sympathetic. □ [+ for ] Vietnam is trying to decide on its course for the future.
4 N‑SING You can refer to the way that events develop as, for example, the course of history or the course of events . □ [+ of ] …a series of decisive naval battles which altered the course of history.
5 N‑COUNT A course is a series of lessons or lectures on a particular subject. □ [+ in ] …a course in business administration. □ [+ on ] I'm shortly to begin a course on the modern novel.
6 → see also access course , correspondence course , refresher course , sandwich course
7 N‑COUNT A course of medical treatment is a series of treatments that a doctor gives someone. □ [+ of ] Treatment is supplemented with a course of antibiotics to kill the bacterium.
8 N‑COUNT A course is one part of a meal. □ The lunch was excellent, especially the first course. □ …a three-course dinner.
9 N‑COUNT In sport, a course is an area of land where races are held or golf is played, or the land over which a race takes place. □ Only 12 seconds separated the first three riders on the Bickerstaffe course.
10 N‑COUNT The course of a river is the channel along which it flows. □ Romantic chateaux and castles overlook the river's twisting course.
11 PHRASE If something happens in the course of a particular period of time, it happens during that period of time. □ In the course of the 1930s, steel production in Britain approximately doubled. □ We struck up a conversation, in the course of which it emerged that he was a sailing man.
12 PHRASE If you do something as a matter of course , you do it as part of your normal work or way of life. □ If police are carrying arms as a matter of course then doesn't it encourage criminals to carry them?
13 PHRASE If a ship or aircraft is on course , it is travelling along the correct route. If it is off course , it is no longer travelling along the correct route. □ The ill-fated ship was sent off course into shallow waters and rammed by another vessel.
14 PHRASE If you are on course for something, you are likely to achieve it. □ The company is on course for profits of £20m in the next financial year.
15 PHRASE If something runs its course or takes its course , it develops naturally and comes to a natural end. □ Over 20,000 cows died before the epidemic ran its course.
16 PHRASE If you stay the course , you finish something that you have started, even though it has become very difficult. □ The oldest president in American history had stayed the course for two terms.
17 PHRASE If something changes or becomes true in the course of time , it changes or becomes true over a long period of time. □ In the course of time, many of their myths become entangled.
18 in due course → see due SYNONYMS course NOUN 5
curriculum: …the history curriculum.
studies: She gave up her studies to have Alexander.
module: These courses are organized into three four-week modules.
cou rse book (course books ) also coursebook N‑COUNT A course book is a textbook that students and teachers use as the basis of a course.
cou rse work also coursework N‑UNCOUNT Course work is work that students do during a course, rather than in exams, especially work that counts towards a student's final grade. □ Some 20 per cent of marks are awarded for coursework.
cours|ing /kɔː r s I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT Coursing is a sport in which rabbits or hares are hunted with dogs.
court
➊ NOUN USES
➋ VERB USES
➊ court ◆◆◆ /kɔː r t/ (courts )
1 N‑COUNT [oft n N , N n, oft in/at N ] A court is a place where legal matters are decided by a judge and jury or by a magistrate. □ At this rate, we could find ourselves in the divorce courts! □ …a county court judge. □ He was deported on a court order following a conviction for armed robbery. □ The 28-year-old striker was in court last week for breaking a rival player's jaw.
2 N‑COUNT You can refer to the people in a court, especially the judge, jury, or magistrates, as a court . □ A court at Tampa, Florida has convicted five officials on fraud charges.
3 N‑COUNT [oft on/off N ] A court is an area in which you play a game such as tennis, basketball, badminton, or squash. □ The hotel has several tennis and squash courts. □ She watched a few of the games while waiting to go on court.
4 N‑COUNT [oft with poss, oft at N ] The court of a king or queen is the place where he or she lives and carries out ceremonial or administrative duties. □ [+ of ] She came to visit England, where she was presented at the court of James I.