course 
When it pleaseth the States to hunt for their pleasure, 
thither they resort, and hane their courses with gray- 
hounds. Uakluyt's Voyages, II. 150. 
We were entertained with a long course of an hare for 
neere 2 miles in sight. Evelyn, Diary, July 20, 1054. 
A matter Of course, something which is to be expected, 
as pertaining to the regular order of things; a natural 
sequence or accompaniment. 
So accustomed to his freaks and follies that she viewed 
them all as matters of course. 
Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales, I. 170. 
Clerk of the course. Same as cnrsitor, i. Course of 
a plinth, the continuity of a plinth in the face of a wall. 
Course of crops, the rotation or succession in which 
crops follow one another in a prescribed system of plant- 
court 
1312 court 
He rode out to the downs, to a gentleman who had serving properly for their particular uses or 
mrteoiisly sent him word that he was coursing with serv ice; a courtyard. It may be surrounded wholly 
eyhounds. J. II. Shortliouse, John Inglesant, i. or in pa j: t 1)y a wall or f enue , or by buildings, and is 
greyl 
3f. To dispute in the schools. Davies. 
course 2 !, An obsolete spelling of coarse. 
course 3 t, t'. and n. An obsolete variant of curse 1 . 
C0urse 4 t, r. t. [Early mod. E. also coresen, < ME. 
*corese, < coreser, mod. courser, a groom: see 
courser 2 , and cf . corse 4 , the same word as course 1 , 
but in a more literal sense.] To groom. 
Here be the best coresed hors, 
That ever yet sawe I me. 
Lytell Geste of Koln/n Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 62). 
face of an arch, in arch., that face of the arch-stones in 
whicli their joints radiate from the center. Course Of 
- 
He ... gave it [500] to this colony to be laid out in 
cattle, and other course of trade, for the poor. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 90. 
(6) Line of business or business transactions. 
In our letter we also mentioned a course of trade our 
merchants had entered into with La Tour. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 220. 
(c) The regular succession of events in the conduct of 
business, (d) The tendency or direction of trade or of the 
markets. In course, (a) In due or usual order. 
The next meeting was m course to be at New Haven in 
the beginning of September. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 301. 
(6) Of course. [Colloq. or prov.] In cpurse Of, during 
the progress of ; in process of ; undergoing. 
They [volunteers to serve a sufficient time] will main- 
tain the public interests while a more permanent force 
shall be in course of preparation. 
Je/erson, Works, VIII. 69. 
Margin Of a course. See margin Of course, by conse- 
quence; in regular or natural order; in the common man- 
ner of proceeding ; without special or exceptional direc- 
tion or provision, and hence, as was expected ; naturally ; 
in accordance with the natural or determinate order of 
procedure or events : as, this effect will follow of course. 
They both promis'd with many civil expressions and 
words of course upon such occasions. 
Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 15, 1651. 
It was of course that parties should, upon such an occa- 
sion, rally under different banners. 
Story, Speech, Salem, Sept. 18, 1828. 
Of course, the interest of the audience and of the orator 
conspire. Emerson, Eloquence. 
Ring course, in an arch, an outer course of stone or brick. 
Springing-COUrse, in arch., the horizontal course of 
stones from which an arch springs or rises. To take 
course t , to take steps or measures ; decide or enter upon 
a course or a specific line of action or proceedings ; as, he 
took the wrong courie to bring them to terms. 
This they had heard of, and were much affected there- 
with, and all the country in general, and took course (the 
elders agreeing upon itatthat meeting) that supply should 
be sent in from the several towns. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 4. 
= Syn. 3. Way, road, route, passage. 9. Rotation. 
12. Series, succession. 13. Procedure, manner, method, 
mode. 
course 1 (kors), . ; pret. and pp. coursed, ppr. 
coursing. [< course 1 , .] I. trans. 1. To hunt; 
pursue; chase. 
My men shall hunt you too upon the start, 
And course you soundly. 
S. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, iii. 2. 
Adown his pale cheek the fast-falling tears 
Are coursing each other round and big. 
Barham, Ingoldsby legends, I. 57. 
The strange figures on the tapestry . . . seemed to his 
bewildered fancy to course each other over the walls. 
J. H. Shorthouse, John Inglesant, i. 
2. To cause to run ; force to move with speed. 
Course them oft, and tire them in the heat. 
May, tr. of Virgil's Georgics. 
3. To run through or over: as, the blood 
courses the winding arteries. 
The bounding steed courses the dusty plain. Pope, 
Rapid as fire 
Coursing a train of gunpowder. 
Wordsivorth, Eccles. Sonnets, iii. 8. 
II. Intrans. 1. To run; pass over or through 
a course; run or move about: as, the 'blood 
courses. 
Swift as quicksilver, it courses through 
The natural gates and alleys of the body. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 5. 
It were tedious to course through all his writings, which 
are so full of the like assertions. 
Miltftn, Reformation in Eng., i. 
We coursed about 
The subject most at heart, more near and near. 
Tennyson, The Gardener's Daughter. 
2. To engage in the sport of coursing. See 
coursini/. 
Both [acts] contain an exemption in respect of the pur- 
suit and killing of hares by coursing with greyhounds, or 
by hunting with beagles or other hounds. 
S. Doieell, Taxes in England, III. 277. 
corsour, curser, coicrcer, < OF. cornier, coursier, 
F. coursier = Pr. corsier = Sp. Pg. corcel = It. 
corsiere, < ML. cursarius, corserivs, curserius, 
< cursus, m., ML. also cursa, f., > F. course, etc., 
a course, running : see course 1 , n. Cf. L. cursor, 
a runner, LL. cursorius, pertaining to a runner : 
see cursory, Cursorcs.] 1. A swift horse; a 
runner ; a war-horse : used chiefly in poetry. 
And Merlin rode on a grete grey courser and bar the 
baner of kynge Arthur be-fore all the hoste. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 585. 
"Take hym a gray courser," sayd Robyn, 
"And asadell newe." 
Lytell Geste of llobyn Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 58). 
The impatient courser pants in every vein. 
Pope, Windsor Forest, 1. 151. 
2. One who hunts; one who pursues the sport 
of coursing. 
A leash is a leathern thong by which a falconer holds 
his hawk, or a courser leads his greyhound. 
Sir T. Hanmer. 
3f. A discourser ; a disputant. 
He was accounted a noted sophister, and remarkable 
courier ... in the public schools. Life of A. Wood, p. 109. 
4. In ornith. : (a) A bird of the genus Curso- 
rius: as, the cream-colored courser, Cursorius 
isabellinus. () pi. The birds of the old group 
Cursores; the struthious birds, as the ostrich, 
etc. 
courser 2 !, [Early mod. E., < ME. courser, cor- 
ser, coresur, < OF. coretier, coratier, couratier, 
couletier, mod. F. courtier = Pr. corratier = Sp. 
corredor = Pg. corretor = It. curattiere, a broker, 
agent, huckster, < ML. corratarius, curaterius, 
corraterius (cf. L. curator, > E. curator), < L. 
curare, pp. curatus, take care of: see cure, cu- 
rate,curator. Hence course*, corse*.] 1. A bro- 
ker; an agent; a dealer; especially, a dealer in 
horses. 2. A groom. 
Foles [foals] with hande to touche a corser wey veth ; 
Hit hurteth hem to handel or to holde. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 135. 
COurseyt, [Earlier coursie, < F. coursie (see 
extract) (= It. corsia), < cowrs, course, course : 
see course.] Naut., a space or passage in a 
galley, about a foot and a half broad, on both 
sides of which the slaves were placed. 
Coursie. [F. ], part of the hatches of a galley, tearmed the 
Coursey ; or, the gallery-like space on both sides whereof 
the seats of the slaves are placed. Cotgrave. 
COIirsieH, " See coursey. 
COUrsie' 2 (kor'si), a. In her., same as voided. 
coursing (kor'sing), n. [< course 1 + -ing 1 .'] 
1. The sport of pursuing hares or other game 
with greyhounds, when the game is started in 
sight of the hounds. 
It would be tried also in flying of hawks, or in coursing 
of a deer, or hart, with greyhounds. Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
2f. Disputing in the schools. See courser 1 , 3. 
180 bachelors this last Lent, and all things carried on 
well ; but no coursing, which is very bad. Life of A . Wood. 
3. In coal-mining, regulation of the ventilation 
of a mine by systematically conducting the air 
through it by means of various doors, stop- 
pings, and brattices. 
COUrsing-hat (kor'sing -hat), . In medieval 
tirmor, a tilting-helmet. 
coursing-joint (kor'sing-joint), n. A joint be- 
tween two courses of masonry. 
COUrsing-trial (kor'sing-tri"al), n. A competi- 
tive trial of the speed and hunting qualities of 
coursing dogs. 
court (kort), . and a. [< ME. court, cort, curt, 
< AF. court, OF. cort, curt, court, F. cour = Pr. 
cort = Sp. Pg. It. corte, < ML. cortis, a court- 
yard, yard, villa, farm, palace, retinue, < L. 
cor(t-)s, contr. of cohor(t-)s, a place inclosed 
(see cohort); akin to E. yard, garth, garden, q. 
v. ; hence courteous, courtesy, courtier, courte- 
zan, etc.] I. . 1. An inclosed space connected 
with a building or buildings of any kind, and 
Court of Lions, Alhambra, Spain. 
sometimes covered over entirely or partially with glass, 
as is common in the case of the central courts of large 
French buildings. 
A faire quadrangular Court, with goodly lodgings about 
it foure stories high. Coryat, Crudities, I. 31. 
Four courts I made, East, West, and South and North, 
In each a squared lawn. Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
2. A short arm of a public street, inclosed on 
three sides by buildings : as, the former Jaun- 
cey court on Wall street in New York. 3. A 
smooth, level plot of ground or floor, on which 
tennis, rackets, or hand-ball is played. See 
tennis-court. 
Tell him, he hath made a match with such a wrangler, 
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd 
With chaces. Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. 
4. A palace ; the residence of a sovereign or 
other high dignitary ; used absolutely, the place 
where a sovereign holds state, surrounded by 
his official attendants and tokens of his dignity : 
as, to be presented at court. 
The same night sothely, sais me the lettur, 
The corse caried was to courtte of the knight Paris. 
Destruction of Troij (E. E. T. S.), 1. 10751. 
Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd and bold, 
That this our court, infected with their manners, 
Shows like a riotous inn. Shak., Lear, i. 4. 
The Persian, . . . finding he had given offense, hath 
made a sort of apology, and said that illness had prevented 
him from going to court. Greville, Memoirs, June 25, 1819. 
5. All the surroundings of a sovereign in his 
regal state ; specifically, the collective body of 
persons who compose the retinue pr council of 
a sovereign or other princely dignitary. 
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove. 
Scott, L. of L. M., iii. 2. 
Her court was pure ; her life serene ; 
God gave her peace ; her land reposed ; 
A thousand claims to reverence closed 
In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen. 
Tennyfon, To the Queen. 
6. The hall, chamber, or place where justice is 
administered. 7. In law, a tribimal duly con- 
stituted, and present at a time and place fixed 
pursuant to law, for the judicial investigation 
and determination of controversies. The court is 
not the judge or judges as individuals, but only when at 
the proper time and place they exercise judicial powers. 
Courts are of record (that is, such that their proceedings 
are enrolled for perpetual memory) or not of record, gen- 
eral or local, of first instance or appellate, etc. The ju- 
dicial system differs in different States and countries, and 
is constantly being modified. See phrases below. 
8. Any jurisdiction, customary, ecclesiastical, 
or military, conferring the power of trial for 
offenses, the redress of wrongs, etc. : as, a ma- 
norial court; an archbishop's court; a coMrf mar- 
tial. 9. A session of a court in either of the 
two last preceding senses. 
The archbishop . . . 
Held a late court at Dunstable. 
Shale., Hen. VIII., iv. 1. 
10. The meeting of a corporation or the prin- 
cipal members of a corporation : as, the court 
of directors ; the court of aldermen. [Eng.] 
1 1 . Attention directed to a person in power ; 
address to make favor; the art of insinuation; 
the art of pleasing; significant attention or 
adulation : as, to make court (that is, to attempt 
to please by flattery and address) ; to pay court 
(to approach with gallantries, to woo). 
Him the Prince with gentle enurt did liord. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. ix. 2. 
Flatter me, make thy court. lii-inlfii, Aurcngzcbe. 
A court in bane. See iaiic. A friend at or in court. 
See frinui. Archdeacon's court, the lowest in the se- 
ries of English ecclesiastical courts. Court Christian, 
