Chorus (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

noun, plural cho·rus·es.
  1. Music.
    • a group of persons singing in unison.
    • (in an opera, oratorio, etc.) such a group singing choral parts in connection with soloists or individual singers.
    • a piece of music for singing in unison.
    • a part of a song that recurs at intervals, usually following each verse; refrain.
  2. simultaneous utterance in singing, speaking, shouting, etc.
  3. the sounds so uttered: a chorus of jeers.
  4. (in a musical show)
    • a company of dancers and singers.
    • the singing, dancing, or songs performed by such a company.
  5. (in ancient Greece)
    • 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.
    • an ode or series of odes sung by a group of actors in ancient Greek drama.
    • 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.
  6. Theater.
    • a group of actors or a single actor having a function similar to that of the Greek chorus, as in Elizabethan drama.
    • the part of a play performed by such a group or individual.
verb (used with or without object), cho·rused, cho·rus·ing.
  1. to sing or speak in chorus.
Idioms
  1. in unison; with all speaking or singing simultaneously: They responded in chorus to the minister's questions.
noun plural -ruses
  1. a large choir of singers or a piece of music composed for such a choir
  2. a body of singers or dancers who perform together, in contrast to principals or soloists
  3. a section of a song in which a soloist is joined by a group of singers, esp in a recurring refrain
  4. an intermediate section of a pop song, blues, etc, as distinct from the verse
  5. any of a series of variations on a theme
  6. (in ancient Greece)
    • a lyric poem sung by a group of dancers, originally as a religious rite
    • an ode or series of odes sung by a group of actors
    • (in classical Greek drama) the actors who sang the chorus and commented on the action of the play
    • actors playing a similar role in any drama
    • (esp in Elizabethan drama) the actor who spoke the prologue, etc
    • the part of the play spoken by this actor
  7. a group of people or animals producing words or sounds simultaneously
  8. any speech, song, or other utterance produced by a group of people or animals simultaneously
  9. in unison
verb
  1. to speak, sing, or utter (words, etc) in unison
Chorus (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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