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chorus - 7 dictionary results

cho⋅rus

  [kawr-uhs, kohr-] noun, plural -rus⋅es, verb, -rused, -rus⋅ing.
Use chorus in a Sentence
–noun
1. Music.
a. a group of persons singing in unison.
b. (in an opera, oratorio, etc.) such a group singing choral parts in connection with soloists or individual singers.
c. a piece of music for singing in unison.
d. a part of a song that recurs at intervals, usually following each verse; refrain.
2. simultaneous utterance in singing, speaking, shouting, etc.
3. the sounds so uttered: a chorus of jeers.
4. (in a musical show)
a. a company of dancers and singers.
b. the singing, dancing, or songs performed by such a company.
5. (in ancient Greece)
a. a lyric poem, believed to have been in dithyrambic form, that was sung and danced to, originally as a religious rite, by a company of persons.
b. an ode or series of odes sung by a group of actors in ancient Greek drama.
c. the group of actors that performed the chorus and served as major participants in, commentators on, or as a supplement to the main action of the drama.
6. Theater.
a. a group of actors or a single actor having a function similar to that of the Greek chorus, as in Elizabethan drama.
b. the part of a play performed by such a group or individual.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
7. to sing or speak in chorus.
—Idiom
8. in chorus, in unison; with all speaking or singing simultaneously: They responded in chorus to the minister's questions.
Origin:
1555–65; < L < Gk chorós a dance, band of dancers and singers
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cho·rus   (kôr'əs, kōr'-)   
n.   pl. cho·rus·es
  1. Music
    1. A composition usually in four or more parts written for a large number of singers.
    2. A refrain in which others, such as audience members, join a soloist in a song.
    3. A line or group of lines repeated at intervals in a song.
    4. A solo section based on the main melody of a popular song and played by a member of the group.
    5. A body of singers who perform choral compositions, usually having more than one singer for each part.
    6. A body of vocalists and dancers who support the soloists and leading performers in operas, musical comedies, and revues.
    7. A group of persons who speak or sing in unison a given part or composition in drama or poetry recitation.
    8. An actor in Elizabethan drama who recites the prologue and epilogue to a play and sometimes comments on the action.
    9. A group of masked dancers who performed ceremonial songs at religious festivals in early Greek times.
    10. The group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged commentary on the action.
    11. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance and song.
    12. A speech, song, or other utterance made in concert by many people.
    13. A simultaneous utterance by a number of people: a chorus of jeers from the bystanders.
    14. The sounds so made.
    1. A group of persons who speak or sing in unison a given part or composition in drama or poetry recitation.
    2. An actor in Elizabethan drama who recites the prologue and epilogue to a play and sometimes comments on the action.
    3. A group of masked dancers who performed ceremonial songs at religious festivals in early Greek times.
    4. The group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged commentary on the action.
    5. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance and song.
    6. A speech, song, or other utterance made in concert by many people.
    7. A simultaneous utterance by a number of people: a chorus of jeers from the bystanders.
    8. The sounds so made.
    1. A group of masked dancers who performed ceremonial songs at religious festivals in early Greek times.
    2. The group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged commentary on the action.
    3. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance and song.
    4. A speech, song, or other utterance made in concert by many people.
    5. A simultaneous utterance by a number of people: a chorus of jeers from the bystanders.
    6. The sounds so made.
  4. A group or performer in a modern drama serving a purpose similar to the Greek chorus.
  5. The performers of a choral ode, especially a Pindaric ode.
    1. A speech, song, or other utterance made in concert by many people.
    2. A simultaneous utterance by a number of people: a chorus of jeers from the bystanders.
    3. The sounds so made.
tr. & intr.v.   cho·rused or cho·russed, cho·rus·ing or cho·rus·sing, cho·rus·es or cho·rus·ses
To sing or utter in or as if in chorus.

[Latin, choral dance, from Greek khoros; see gher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Chorus

Cho"rus\, n.; pl. Choruses. [L., a dance in a ring, a dance accompanied with song; a chorus, a band of dancers and singers. Gr. ?. See Choir.]

1. (Antiq.) A band of singers and dancers.

The Grecian tragedy was at first nothing but a chorus of singers. --Dryden.

2. (Gr. Drama) A company of persons supposed to behold what passed in the acts of a tragedy, and to sing the sentiments which the events suggested in couplets or verses between the acts; also, that which was thus sung by the chorus.

What the lofty, grave tragedians taught In chorus or iambic. --Milton.

3. An interpreter in a dumb show or play. [Obs.]

4. (Mus.) A company of singers singing in concert.

5. (Mus.) A composition of two or more parts, each of which is intended to be sung by a number of voices.

6. (Mus.) Parts of a song or hymn recurring at intervals, as at the end of stanzas; also, a company of singers who join with the singer or choir in singer or choir in singing such parts.

7. The simultaneous of a company in any noisy demonstration; as, a Chorus of shouts and catcalls.

Chorus

Cho"rus\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Chorused; p. pr. & vb. n. Chorusing.] To sing in chorus; to exclaim simultaneously. --W. D. Howells.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : chorus
Spanish: coro,
German: der Chor,
Japanese: 合唱団
More Translations »

chorus 
1561, from Gk. khoros "band of dancers or singers, dance, dancing ground," from PIE *ghoro-. In Attic tragedy, the khoros gave expression, between the acts, to the moral and religious sentiments evoked by the actions of the play. Originally used in theatrical sense; meaning of "a choir" first attested 1656. Meaning "the refrain of a song" (which the audience joins in singing) is 1599. Chorus girl is 1894.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Chorus operating system
A distributed operating system developed at INRIA.
(2006-09-20)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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chorus

see in chorus.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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