chorus

noun

1. (historical)A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.

   “[W]ee would that the voice and dialect of the propheteſſe Pythia, reſembling the ſpeech of a Chorus in a tragedie from a ſcaffold, ſhould pronounce her anſwers not in ſimple, plaine, and triviall termes, without any grace to ſet them out, but with Poeticall magnificence of high and ſtately verſes, diſguiſed as it were with metaphors and figurative phraſes, yea, and that which more is, with ſound of flute and hautboies: […]”

2. (historical)A song performed by the singers of such a group.

   “And the Apocalyps of Saint Iohn is the majeſtick image of a high and ſtately Tragedy, ſhutting up and intermingling her ſolemn Scenes and Acts with a ſevenfold Chorus of halleluja's and harping ſymphonies: […]”

3. (British, broadly, historical)An actor who reads the prologue and epilogue of a play, and sometimes also acts as a commentator or narrator; also, a portion of a play read by this actor.

   “Enter Chorus. / Cut is the branch that might haue growne ful ſtraight, / And burned is Apolloes Laurel bough, / That ſometime grew within this learned man: […]”

   “Ya're as good as a Chorus my lord.”

   “Palinode. / Amo[rphus]. From ſpaniſh ſhrugs, french faces, ſmirks, irps, and all affected humours: / Chorvs. Good Mercvry defend vs.”

   “Enter Time, the Chorus. [stage direction]”

4. A group of singers performing together; a choir; specifically, such a group singing together in a musical, an opera, etc., as distinct from the soloists; an ensemble.

   “The performance of the chorus was awe-inspiring and exhilarating.”

   “They are shadowed by a robed chorus of Beckettian sages--Homer (Joseph Grimm), Hesiod (Gary Kelley), Herodotos (Daniel Parker) and Thucydides (Michael Rivkin)--given to Joseph Campbell-like pronouncements on the power of myth.”

   “But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.”

5. (broadly)A group of people in a performance who recite together.
6. An instance of singing by a group of people.

   “But once out of sight of those fearful precincts, the psalm was forgotten, and again broke, loud, clear, and silvery, the joyous chorus.”

7. (figuratively)A group of people, animals, or inanimate objects who make sounds together.

   “a chorus of crickets    a chorus of whiners”

   “More than just an appliance, the air conditioner is a memento mori. […] As summer proceeds, listen to the chorus of machines humming in the windows, outside the houses, atop the office buildings.”

8. (figuratively)The noise or sound made by such a group.

   “a chorus of shouts and catcalls”

   “As she came to the last line [of a song], her soft low voice seemed to awaken a chorus of sprightly horns and trumpets, and certain other wind instruments peculiar to the music of that day.”

   “At the end of a frantic first 45 minutes, there was still time for Charlie Adam to strike the bar from 20 yards before referee [Martin] Atkinson departed to a deafening chorus of jeering from Everton's fans.”

9. (figuratively)A group of people who express a unanimous opinion.

   “So far, more than a dozen EU countries have either enacted a windfall tax or said they’re planning to. […] On Monday, US President Joe Biden joined the chorus, accusing oil companies of “war profiteering” and threatening them with big new levies if they fail to bring down consumer prices.”

   “Donald Trump’s top political staffers at Mar-a-Lago are pressing him to move forward with his planned 2024 presidential campaign announcement next week but a chorus of allies are suggesting delaying until after the Senate runoff in Georgia in December, according to sources familiar with the matter.”

10. (figuratively)The opinion expressed by such a group.

    “On Friday, 75 scholars and clinicians signed an open letter, joining a chorus of disagreement with Berenson by arguing that “establishing marijuana as a causal link to violence at the individual level is both theoretically and empirically problematic”.”

11. A piece of music, especially one in a larger work such as an opera, written to be sung by a choir in parts (for example, by sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses).
12. A part of a song which is repeated between verses to emphasize the song's content; a refrain.

    “The catchiest part of most songs is the chorus.”

    “[T]he commodore, the lieutenant, and landlord, joined in the chorus, repeating this elegant ſtanza: […]”

    “See the flowing bowl before us, / Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! / Strike the harp and join the chorus. / Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!”

13. The main part of a pop song played after the introduction.
14. A group of organ pipes or organ stops intended to be played simultaneously; a compound stop; also, the sound made by such pipes or stops.
15. (attributive, often)A feature or setting in electronic music that makes one instrument sound like many.
16. A simple, often repetitive, song intended to be sung in a group during informal worship.
17. The improvised solo section in a small group performance.

    “Of additional interest is the riff in the second chorus, which was later copied by Joe Garland and recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra as "In the Mood," becoming the biggest hit of the Swing Era.”

    “Jazz solos in the 1920s are much more about variety and discontinuity than unity and coherence. The explosive introduction, the instrutable and tender scat-clarinet dialogue, the spritely piano chorus, and the majestic trumpet chorus—contrast is far more important than unity.”

verb

1. (transitive)To sing (a song), express (a sentiment), or recite or say (words) in chorus.

   “In the middle of the little woody bay, or rather basin, which received the scanty waters of the stream, an armed sloop lay at anchor, and he heard the din of license and carousal on board,—the hasty oath—the hearty laugh—and the boisterous song, chorussed by a score of rough voices, which made the bay re-echo.”

   “Shortly afterwards, all England was engaged in chorussing his favourite ditty— […]”

   “[…] I could not even affect to join in the stereotyped "Oh, thank you!" which was chorused around me.”

   “But soon they streamed ashore, fresh-faced young sailormen in small and large parties directed by ship's officers and Russian embassy guides. They drove to London, to Salisbury Cathedral, to Windsor Castle, chorusing sea chanteys and waving at girls.”

   “The Cottons chorused grateful acknowledgement.”

2. (transitive)To express concurrence with (something said by another person); to echo.

   “"Yes," said the king; "Come, Hop-Frog, lend us your assistance. Characters, my fine fellow; we stand in need of characters—all of us—ha! ha! ha!" and as this was seriously meant for a joke, his laugh was chorused by the seven.”

3. (rare, transitive)To provide (a song) with a chorus or refrain.

   “Let ev'ry Song be Choruſt with his Name. / And Muſick pay her Tribute to his Fame.”

4. (intransitive)To sing the chorus or refrain of a song.

   “1785, James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D, Wednesday, 8th September, 1773, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6018/pg6018-images.html Malcolm sung an Erse song, the chorus of which was 'Hatyin foam foam eri', with words of his own. […] the boatmen and Mr M’Queen chorused, and all went well.”

5. (intransitive)To sing, express, or say in, or as if in, unison.

   “Then they all chorus'd upon me—Such a character as Miſs Harlowe's! cry'd one—A lady of ſo much generoſity and good ſenſe! another— […]”

   “Six State Commissioners of Education gloomily chorused about retrenchments, pay cuts and shut-down schools in Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Washington, Massachusetts and Maine.”

   “The animals crowded round the van. "Good-bye, Boxer!" they chorused, "good-bye!"”

   “Without an abatement agreement there would have been no chorusing from the government about the great success and triumph that Fontainebleau represented for Britain.”

   “Others in the crowded bus, having nothing better to do, took up the cry, and soon many of the higglers were chorusing about the ugliness of the fisherman playing dominoes.”

6. (intransitive)To echo in unison another person's words.

   “Then she shouted: "Viva our Lady of Grace," and the crowd chorused.”

7. (intransitive)Of animals: to make cries or sounds together.

   “Then the cocks began to crow in the town beneath the hill, and the birds chorused in the fields, and a pale yellow poppy colored the east.”

   “1998, Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders' Nests, translated by Archibald Colquhoun, revised by Martin McLaughlin, Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 1998, Chapter Two, p. 51, The hens are now sleeping in rows on their perches in the coops, and the frogs are out of the water and chorusing away along the bed of the whole torrent, from source to mouth.”