Course (redirected from take its course)

course

1. the path or channel along which something moves

2. 

a. a prescribed number of lessons, lectures, etc., in an educational curriculum

b. the material covered in such a curriculum

3. a prescribed regimen to be followed for a specific period of time

4. Nautical any of the sails on the lowest yards of a square-rigged ship

5. (in medieval Europe) a charge by knights in a tournament

6. 

a. a hunt by hounds relying on sight rather than scent

b. a match in which two greyhounds compete in chasing a hare

7. the part or function assigned to an individual bell in a set of changes

8. Archaic a running race

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course [kȯrs]

(civil engineering)

A row of stone, block, or brick of uniform height.

(navigation)

The intended direction of travel expressed as an angle in the horizontal plane between a reference line (true magnetic north) and the course line (the line connecting the point of origin and the point of destination), usually measured clockwise from the reference line. Also known as desired track.

(textiles)

A row of stitches across a knitted fabric; corresponds to the filling in woven fabric.

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course

course, 1

1. A layer of masonry units running horizontally in a wall or, much less commonly, curved over an arch; it is bonded with mortar.

2. A continuous row or layer of material, as shingles, tiles, etc.

3. In concrete construction, one of several horizontal layers making up a lift, 5. For specific types, see band course, base course, belt course, blocking course, bond course, coping course, corbel course, dog-tooth course, masonry course, random course, sill course, springing course, staggered course, stringcourse, tumbling course.

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Course 

(1) The path followed by sea and air transport, such as a ship’s course.

(2) The direction of political, social, and other activity, such as a course of development of heavy industry.

(3) In Russian, a word (kurs) designating the value of a monetary unit of one country expressed in monetary units of another country (course or parity of exchange); in capitalist countries, the price at which stocks, bonds, notes, and other securities are bought and sold (kursovaia tsena).

(4) A year of study in higher or specialized secondary educational institutions (technicums); first course, second course, and so on.

(5) The exposition of a particular academic discipline or branch of knowledge within defined limits.

(6) A completed series of actions or procedures (a course of treatment).

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Course 

(ship), the angle between the plane of the meridian and the center line of a vessel, reckoned in degrees from the northern part of the meridian clockwise (from 0° to 360°).

In the age of sailing, a course was read off in quarters of the horizon by degrees from the north and south in both directions up to 90° (for example: northeast 45°, southwest 60°) or was expressed in compass points. It is determined on a vessel by means of a gyrocompass or a magnetic compass. Because of the inherent errors in these instruments and the effect of the earth’s magnetic field on a magnetic compass, the direction of a compass meridian may differ from the geographic meridian, and there will be a corresponding difference between the compass course to which a vessel is holding and the true course as laid out on a chart. A compass course is obtained by taking the algebraic difference between the true course and the total correction computed from the elements in its composition, or by comparing the compass and true bearings of some objects (shore-based points or heavenly bodies). A vessel can be stabilized on a given course either manually or automatically; automatic stabilization relies on an automatic control system (autopilots). Navigation of sailing vessels uses the regular course terminology and also one based on the angle of the wind direction relative to the center line of the vessel. Such a course has various names depending on the value of this angle: close-hauled, beam reach, broad reach, and running.

B. P. KHABUR and A. A. IAKUSHENKOV