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chord1 definition

chord (kôrd)

noun

  1. Archaic the string of a musical instrument
  2. a feeling or emotion thought of as being played on like the string of a harp to strike a sympathetic chord
  3. Aeron.
    1. an imaginary straight line extending directly through an airfoil from the leading to the trailing edge
    2. the length of such a line
  4. Anat. cord (sense )
  5. Engineering a principal horizontal member in a rigid framework, as of a bridge
  6. Geom. a straight line segment joining any two points on an arc, curve, or circumference

Etymology: altered (infl. by L chorda) < cord

chord2 definition

chord (kôrd)

noun

Music a combination of three or more tones sounded together in harmony

Etymology: altered (infl. by L chorda) < ME cord, aphetic < accord, accord

intransitive verb, transitive verb

  1. to harmonize
  2. to play chords on (a piano, guitar, etc.)

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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