/koh"deuh/ , n.
1. Music. a more or less independent passage, at the end of a composition, introduced to bring it to a satisfactory close.
2. Ballet. the concluding section of a ballet, esp. the final part of a pas de deux.
3. a concluding section or part, esp. one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc., as in a work of literature or drama.
4. anything that serves as a concluding part.
5. Phonet. the segment of a syllable following the nucleus, as the d- sound in good. Cf. core (def. 14), onset (def. 3).
[ 1745-55; cauda tail; cf. QUEUE ]