COURSES Synonyms: 243 Similar and Opposite Words

courses 1 of 2

noun

plural of course

as in procedures

a way of acting or proceeding the president's usual course has been to obtain advice from several people and then make up his own mind

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Relevance

as in classes

a series of lectures on a subject a course on American history from the colonial period to the present

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as in processes

a usually fixed or ordered series of actions or events leading to a result set out on the course that would lead to a college degree

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as in routes

the direction along which something or someone moves the river follows a southeasterly course to the ocean

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as in canals

an open man-made passageway for water the Erie Canal was replaced by a much larger course, the New York State Barge Canal

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courses

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of course

as in tracks

to go after or on the track of after coursing the conspirators for months, the federal agents closed in and made the arrests

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as in traverses

to make one's way through, across, or over once the threat of terrorism became apparent, fighter jets began coursing that corridor on a daily basis

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as in races

to proceed or move quickly racehorses coursing down the track

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of courses

Noun

Having a two-week match play event to close out the year on two separate courses should provide nothing but positive returns for all involved. — Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 There’s also the reality of add/drop and other university registration rules for enrolling in fall semester courses, as athletes need to remain full-time students in good standing. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 25 Aug. 2026 At Abraxas High School, students complete agricultural science courses that incorporate real-world learning experiences and hands-on projects through the Abraxas Garden. — Julie Gallant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 More than half of students take Advanced Placement courses and exams, the publication noted. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026 The other journalists partook in trick games on the skis, and rode on other water courses, for the rest of the afternoon. — Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026 Flowkey Classic combines structured piano courses with more than 1,000 classical and public-domain songs. — Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 23 Aug. 2026 Kejelcha is scheduled to run the Valencia marathon at the start of December, one of the fastest courses outside of the marathon majors. — Liam Tharme, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026 Students take college-level courses with undergraduates in grades 11 and 12. — Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 18 Aug. 2026

Verb

What could be a stock campus ice-queen role is subverted throughout the season, through the empathy for the character that courses through her performance. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 27 July 2026 The same love of equality and freedom that courses through the Declaration motivated her white great-grandmother to campaign for suffrage and her African American grandfather to found a chapter of the NAACP in the Jim Crow South. — Michael Kazin, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026 And about the obsession that courses through dozens of countries on the continent. — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 3 June 2026 But Open, Heaven also courses with youth’s great agony, the cruelty that learning to love should be inexorably followed by learning to grieve its undoing. — Gabrielle Bellot, Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026 Such is the power of cachaça, the essential and irresistible Brazilian sugar cane spirit that courses through each round of tropical cocktails passed across the bar. — Elazar Sontag, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for courses

Noun

Some undergo cosmetic procedures and reportedly inject their bodies with peptides, testosterone, and other substances that enhance their physiques.

— José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 27 Aug. 2026
Parton did not disclose the nature of those procedures at the time.

— Liza Esquibias, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of procedures

Noun

Imperial Business School has already created digital twins of professors, while Georgia Tech has deployed AI teaching assistant Jill Watson across large online classes.

— Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and four years of probation and ordered to complete 52 domestic violence classes.

— Sameen Chaudhry, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of classes

Noun

And the government reshuffles in Kyiv, as well as major anti-government protests, show that civil society and democratic processes are still alive and well in Ukraine.

— Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
Sleep is when the brain consolidates memory, recalibrates stress and immune signaling and supports other restorative processes.

— Renée Onque, CNBC, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of processes

Noun

From classic Amtrak routes crossing the Continental Divide to historic steam locomotives chugging through the state’s mining past, these journeys continue to preserve the stories, scenery and communities that helped shape the West.

— Jocelyn Rowley, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026
In a bid to control traffic through the narrow waterway, Iran has designated routes going through their territorial waters.

— Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of routes

Noun

Other residents use separate pressure-irrigation systems supplied with Boise River water delivered through canals and laterals.

— Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 23 Aug. 2026
Often called the Venice of the South, Cape Canal features 400 of miles canals lined with gorgeous waterfront homes.

— Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of canals

Verb

The story tracks a Chinese chef who moves to the Middle East to clear family debts by running a restaurant, only to see the venue become a community refuge when armed conflict breaks out across the region.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Aug. 2026
Automatic version history tracks changes for up to one year, providing access to earlier versions of the file.

— StackCommerce Team, PC Magazine, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of tracks

Verb

Finn Gomez / Getty Images Kirkwood, who races for Andretti Global, started second but took the lead on the opening lap with a daring maneuver around the outside of pole-sitter and championship leader Alex Palou in front of the National Archives.

— Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 23 Aug. 2026
When Phoebe Hunt, a documentarian for Tempus Tours, discovers that a real estate heiress who didn’t return from a journey is actually a suspicious woman from Phoebe’s past, Phoebe races to stop history from being rewritten.

— Monitor reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Aug. 2026