chords

Noun

chord (plural chords)

1. A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.
   • He struck the opening chords of the passage; but this time Irene's voice was silent. Victor stopped in the middle of an arpeggio.1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind
2. A line segment between two points of a curve.
   • The simplest method of calculating the radius of a curve in situ is to measure the versine; in railway practice this is done by extending a tape 66 ft. (1 ch.) long in a straight line or chord between two points on the periphery of a curve, and then measuring the maximum distance of the rail from...1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: Curves”, in Railway Magazine, page 430
3. A horizontal member of a truss.
   1. A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them.
4. The distance between the leading and trailing edge of a wing, measured in the direction of the normal airflow.
5. An imaginary line from the luff of a sail to its leech.

See all 13 meanings of chord