v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Coursed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Coursing. ] 1. To run, hunt, or chase after; to follow hard upon; to pursue. [ 1913 Webster ]

We coursed him at the heels. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to chase after or pursue game; as, to course greyhounds after deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To run through or over. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bounding steed courses the dusty plain. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To run as in a race, or in hunting; to pursue the sport of coursing; as, the sportsmen coursed over the flats of Lancashire. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move with speed; to race; as, the blood courses through the veins. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. cours, course, L. cursus, fr. currere to run. See Current. ] 1. The act of moving from one point to another; progress; passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais. Acts xxi. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The ground or path traversed; track; way. [ 1913 Webster ]

The same horse also run the round course at Newmarket. Pennant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Motion, considered as to its general or resultant direction or to its goal; line progress or advance. [ 1913 Webster ]

A light by which the Argive squadron steers
Their silent course to Ilium's well known shore. Dennham. [ 1913 Webster ]

Westward the course of empire takes its way. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Progress from point to point without change of direction; any part of a progress from one place to another, which is in a straight line, or on one direction; as, a ship in a long voyage makes many courses; a course measured by a surveyor between two stations; also, a progress without interruption or rest; a heat; as, one course of a race. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Motion considered with reference to manner; or derly progress; procedure in a certain line of thought or action; as, the course of an argument. [ 1913 Webster ]

The course of true love never did run smooth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Customary or established sequence of events; recurrence of events according to natural laws. [ 1913 Webster ]

By course of nature and of law. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

Day and night,
Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,
Shall hold their course. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Method of procedure; manner or way of conducting; conduct; behavior. [ 1913 Webster ]

My lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

By perseverance in the course prescribed. Wodsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

You hold your course without remorse. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A series of motions or acts arranged in order; a succession of acts or practices connectedly followed; as, a course of medicine; a course of lectures on chemistry. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn. [ 1913 Webster ]

He appointed . . . the courses of the priests 2 Chron. viii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. That part of a meal served at one time, with its accompaniments. [ 1913 Webster ]

He [ Goldsmith ] wore fine clothes, gave dinners of several courses, paid court to venal beauties. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Arch.) A continuous level range of brick or stones of the same height throughout the face or faces of a building. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Naut.) The lowest sail on any mast of a square-rigged vessel; as, the fore course, main course, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. pl. (Physiol.) The menses. [ 1913 Webster ]

In course, in regular succession. --
Of course, by consequence; as a matter of course; in regular or natural order. --
In the course of, at same time or times during. “In the course of human events.” T. Jefferson.

Syn. -- Way; road; route; passage; race; series; succession; manner; method; mode; career; progress. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Hunted; as, a coursed hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Arranged in courses; as, coursed masonry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. coursier. ] 1. One who courses or hunts. [ 1913 Webster ]

leash is a leathern thong by which . . . a courser leads his greyhound. Hanmer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A swift or spirited horse; a racer or a war horse; a charger. [ Poetic. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A grallatorial bird of Europe (Cursorius cursor), remarkable for its speed in running. Sometimes, in a wider sense, applied to running birds of the Ostrich family. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. corsie, coursie, passage way to the stern. See Course, n. ] (Naut.)A space in the galley; a part of the hatches. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]