cord
[kawrd]
| 1. | a string or thin rope made of several strands braided, twisted, or woven together. |
| 2. | Electricity. a small, flexible, insulated cable. |
| 3. | a ribbed fabric, esp. corduroy. |
| 4. | a cordlike rib on the surface of cloth. |
| 5. | any influence that binds or restrains: cord of marriage. |
| 6. | Anatomy. a cordlike structure: the spinal cord; umbilical cord. |
| 7. | a unit of volume used chiefly for fuel wood, now generally equal to 128 cu. ft. (3.6 cu. m), usually specified as 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high (2.4 m × 1.2 m × 1.2 m). Abbreviation: cd, cd. |
| 8. | a hangman's rope. |
| 9. | to bind or fasten with a cord or cords. |
| 10. | to pile or stack up (wood) in cords. |
| 11. | to furnish with a cord. |
1250–1300; ME coord(e) < AF, OF corde < L chorda < Gk chord
gut; confused in part of its history with chord 1 
Related forms:
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Cord
Cord\ (k[^o]rd), n. [F. corde, L. chorda catgut, chord, cord, fr. Gr. chordh`; cf. chola`des intestines, L. haruspex soothsayer (inspector of entrails), Icel. g["o]rn, pl. garnir gut, and E. yarn. Cf. Chord, Yarn.]1. A string, or small rope, composed of several strands twisted together. 2. A solid measure, equivalent to 128 cubic feet; a pile of wood, or other coarse material, eight feet long, four feet high, and four feet broad; -- originally measured with a cord or line. 3. Fig.: Any moral influence by which persons are caught, held, or drawn, as if by a cord; an enticement; as, the cords of the wicked; the cords of sin; the cords of vanity. The knots that tangle human creeds, The wounding cords that bind and strain The heart until it bleeds. --Tennyson. 4. (Anat.) Any structure having the appearance of a cord, esp. a tendon or a nerve. See under Spermatic, Spinal, Umbilical, Vocal. 5. (Mus.) See Chord. [Obs.] Cord wood, wood for fuel cut to the length of four feet (when of full measure).Cite This Source
cord
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Main Entry: cord
Pronunciation: 'ko(&)rd
Function: noun
1 : a long slender flexible material usually consisting of several strands (as of threador yarn) woven or twisted together
2 : a slender flexible anatomical structure (as a nerve) —see SPERMATICCORD, SPINAL CORD, UMBILICAL CORD,VOCAL CORD 1
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cord or chord (kôrd)
n.
A long ropelike bodily structure, such as a nerve or tendon.
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Cord
frequently used in its proper sense, for fastening a tent (Ex. 35:18; 39:40), yoking animals to a cart (Isa. 5:18), binding prisoners (Judg. 15:13; Ps. 2:3; 129:4), and measuring ground (2 Sam. 8;2; Ps. 78:55). Figuratively, death is spoken of as the giving way of the tent-cord (Job 4:21. "Is not their tent-cord plucked up?" R.V.). To gird one's self with a cord was a token of sorrow and humiliation. To stretch a line over a city meant to level it with the ground (Lam. 2:8). The "cords of sin" are the consequences or fruits of sin (Prov. 5:22). A "threefold cord" is a symbol of union (Eccl. 4:12). The "cords of a man" (Hos. 11:4) means that men employ, in inducing each other, methods such as are suitable to men, and not "cords" such as oxen are led by. Isaiah (5:18) says, "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope." This verse is thus given in the Chaldee paraphrase: "Woe to those who begin to sin by little and little, drawing sin by cords of vanity: these sins grow and increase till they are strong and are like a cart rope." This may be the true meaning. The wicked at first draw sin with a slender cord; but by-and-by their sins increase, and they are drawn after them by a cart rope. Henderson in his commentary says: "The meaning is that the persons described were not satisfied with ordinary modes of provoking the Deity, and the consequent ordinary approach of his vengeance, but, as it were, yoked themselves in the harness of iniquity, and, putting forth all their strength, drew down upon themselves, with accelerated speed, the load of punishment which their sins deserved."
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| CORD Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors |
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cord
unit of volume for measuring stacked firewood. A cord is generally equivalent to a stack 4 4 8 feet (128 cubic feet), and its principal subdivision is the cord foot, which measures 4 4 1 feet. A standard cord consists of sticks or pieces 4 feet long stacked in a 4 8-foot rick. A short cord is a 4 8-foot rick of pieces shorter than 4 feet, and a long cord is a similar rick of pieces longer than 4 feet. A face cord is a 4 8-foot stack of pieces 1 foot long. The cord was originally devised in order to measure firewood and was so named because a line, string, or cord was used to tie the wood into a bundle.
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