Library / English Dictionary

CHORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("chord" is a kind of...):

musical note; note; tone (a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chord"):

arpeggio (a chord whose notes are played in rapid succession rather than simultaneously)

sforzando (an accented chord)

common chord; triad (a three-note major or minor chord; a note and its third and fifth tones)

seventh chord (a triad with a seventh added)

Derivation:

chord (bring into consonance, harmony, or accord while making music or singing)

chord (play chords on (a stringed instrument))

chordal (relating to or consisting of or emphasizing chords)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A straight line connecting two points on a curve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("chord" is a kind of...):

straight line (a line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bring into consonance, harmony, or accord while making music or singing

Synonyms:

chord; harmonise; harmonize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "chord" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Domain category:

music ((music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chord"):

key (regulate the musical pitch of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

chord (a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Play chords on (a stringed instrument)

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "chord" is one way to...):

play (perform music on (a musical instrument))

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

chord (a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together)

Credits

 Context examples: 

With the unerring instinct of her noble heart, she touched the chords of my memory so softly and harmoniously, that not one jarred within me; I could listen to the sorrowful, distant music, and desire to shrink from nothing it awoke.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As Tom took up the receiver the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn's Wedding March from the ballroom below.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

From the ballroom beneath, muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)