English Explanatory Dictionary

cord

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fibre (a rope, for example).
  2. Any quantity of such material when viewed as a mass or commodity.
  3. A small flexible electrical conductor composed of wires insulated separately or in bundles and assembled together usually with an outer cover; the electrical cord of a lamp, sweeper ((US) vacuum cleaner), or other appliance.
  4. A unit of measurement for firewood, equal to 128 cubic feet (4 × 4 × 8 feet), composed of logs and/or split logs four feet long and none over eight inches diameter. It is usually seen as a stack four feet high by eight feet long.
  5. Any influence by which persons are caught, held, or drawn, as if by a cord.
  6. Any structure having the appearance of a cord, especially a tendon or nerve.
  7. Dated form of chord.
  8. Misspelling of chord, a cross-section measurement of an aircraft wing.
verb
  1. To furnish with cords.
  2. To tie or fasten with cords.
  3. To flatten a book during binding.
  4. To arrange (wood, etc.) in a pile for measurement by the cord.

Pronunciation

/kɔɹd/ /kɔːd/ en-us-cord.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Qwertygiy-cord.wav

Word forms

cord cords cording corded

Etymology

From Middle English corde, from Old French corde, from Latin chorda, from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerH- (“bowels, intestines”)). Doublet of chord and cuerda. More at yarn and hernia.

Synonyms

cable twine cordage flex

Derived words

aux cord bait-cord bedcord Bedford cord body cord bungee cord bungy cord central cord syndrome citation cord communication cord cord colitis syndrome cord-cutter cord-cutting cordectomy cordel corder cord factor cordgrass cordite cord lacing cord-lacing cordless cordlike cordmaker cordmaking cordocentesis cordopexy cordotomy cordset cord set corduroy cordwood cordy cut the cord cut the umbilical cord detcord detonating cord detonation cord drawcord emergency cord extension cord genital cord hemicord kill cord kook cord male-to-male cord needlecord nerve cord neurocord nuchal cord oblique cord paracord power cord primer cord pullcord pull cord rheocord ripcord russel cord sash cord
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