choir

plural choirs

1. collectiveentertainmentA group of people who sing together; a company of people who are trained to sing together.

   The church choir practices Thursday nights.

   3 more examples

   Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Army choirs and troupes perform at some of North Korea's biggest state events.

   2020 April 24, Oscar Holland, “How North Korea’s ideology is built on song and dance”, in CNN

   Public health officials studying the Covid-19 outbreak among members of a Washington choir found numerous ways the virus could have spread, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

   2020 May 13, David Williams, “How coronavirus spread from one member to 87% of the singers at a Washington choir practice”, in CNN

2. architectureOne quarter of a cruciform church, or the architectural area of a church, generally used by the choir; often near the apse.

   1 more example

   Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

3. ChristianangelologyOne of the nine ranks or orders of angels.

   Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones are three of the choirs of angels.

4. collectiveartA group of angels, especially when depicted in art.

   She is surrounded by a choir of angels

   1876, John Murray, A Handbook for Travellers in Holland and Belgium, page 146

   3 more examples

   The right wing contains S. Francis receiving the Stigmata, beneath which the Virgin and Saviour (the Saviour is in the act of benediction) are represented on a common throne surrounded by a choir of angels.

   1909, Joseph Archer Crowe, Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, A New History of Painting in Italy, page 16

   Third miniature, Christ on a journey met by a choir of angels with musical instruments

   1889, John William Bradley, A Dictionary of Miniaturists, Illuminators, Calligraphers, and Copyists With References to Their Works, and Notices of Their Patrons, from the Establishment of Christianity to the Eighteenth Century, volume 3

   Mary C. Neal who, after drowning in a river in 1999, reported being greeted by a choir of angels who not only offered her comfort but also imparted profound teachings about the purpose of existence and the interconnectedness of all souls

   2026, Natalia Martinez, The Book of Angels and Archangels

5. Set of strings (one per note) for a harpsichord.
6. figurativelyAny group or assemblage producing sound together; a chorus of loud cries or noises.

   Sow ran and squall'd, While Jack he bawl'd, And Jill join'd in the choir, Dog Ball being near, Bit sow by the ear, And threw Jack into the mire.

   1810, Jack and Jill, and old Dame Gill, York: J. Kendrew, page 12

present singular third person choirs · participle present choiring · participle past choired · past choired

1. intransitiveTo sing in concert.

   The great aim of this book is to secure congregational singing, which the churches must come to, at last, after a long interval of choiring.

   1859, The Presbyterian Magazine, volume 9, page 423

1. A city in Govisümber, Mongolia.

   The United States may seek access rights to an air base built by the Soviets outside the city of Choir in Mongolia.

   2008, Michael L. Levin, “U.S. Foreign Policy, The Debt Explosion, and Demographic Trends”, in The Next Great Clash: China and Russia vs. the United States, Praeger Security International, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 33