CHORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chord mean? 

• CHORD (noun)
  The noun CHORD has 2 senses:

1. a straight line connecting two points on a curve

2. a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together

  Familiarity information: CHORD used as a noun is rare.

• CHORD (verb)
  The verb CHORD has 2 senses:

1. play chords on (a stringed instrument)

2. bring into consonance, harmony, or accord while making music or singing

  Familiarity information: CHORD used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHORD (noun)

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

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)

• CHORD (verb)

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

chord; harmonise; harmonize

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)

 Context examples 

As he listened, he lost his place, the music ended with a broken chord, and the musician sat silent in the dark.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I wonder if it was Mrs. Harker's presence which had touched some chord in his memory.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Therefore, if it had depended upon me to touch the prevailing chord among them with any skill, I should have made a poor hand of it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Besides, I wished to touch no deep-thrilling chord—to open no fresh well of emotion in his heart: my sole present aim was to cheer him.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

As he went on I felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy; one by one the various keys were touched which formed the mechanism of my being; chord after chord was sounded, and soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

But in spite of their efforts to be as cheery as larks, the flutelike voices did not seem to chord as well as usual, and all felt out of tune.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It plained of its gaping wounds, its inward bleeding, its riven chords.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was always something in her modest voice that seemed to touch a chord within me, answering to that sound alone.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I hardly know where I found the hardihood thus to open a conversation with a stranger; the step was contrary to my nature and habits: but I think her occupation touched a chord of sympathy somewhere; for I too liked reading, though of a frivolous and childish kind; I could not digest or comprehend the serious or substantial.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He looked at the back of the seat, as if he were addressing himself to that; and softly played upon it with his hands, as if he were striking chords upon a dumb piano.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)