chorus: Meaning and Definition of

cho•rus

Pronunciation: (kôr'us, kōr'-), [key]
— n., pl. v., -rus•es, -rused, -rus•ing.
—n.
    1. a group of persons singing in unison.
    2. (in an opera, oratorio, etc.) such a group singing choral parts in connection with soloists or individual singers.
    3. a piece of music for singing in unison.
    4. a part of a song that recurs at intervals, usually following each verse; refrain.
  1. simultaneous utterance in singing, speaking, shouting, etc.
  2. the sounds so uttered: a chorus of jeers.
  3. (in a musical show)
    1. a company of dancers and singers.
    2. the singing, dancing, or songs performed by such a company.
  4. (in ancient Greece)
    1. 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.
    2. an ode or series of odes sung by a group of actors in ancient Greek drama.
    3. 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.
    1. a group of actors or a single actor having a function similar to that of the Greek chorus, as in Elizabethan drama.
    2. the part of a play performed by such a group or individual.
  5. in unison; with all speaking or singing simultaneously: They responded in chorus to the minister's questions.
—v.t., v.i.
  1. to sing or speak in chorus.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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