A corps (pronounced “core”) is an organized group of people working together for a specific purpose, especially in military or civic service. The Marine Corps, for instance, is a branch of the U.S. military where Marines train and serve together. The Peace Corps sends volunteers to help communities around the world.

A corps works like a well-coordinated team where everyone has a role and shares a common mission.

You'll also see corps in other contexts: a press corps refers to journalists who cover a particular beat together, like reporters assigned to follow the president. A drum and bugle corps is a musical marching group that performs complex routines.

The singular and plural forms are spelled the same way (one corps, two corps), though you add an “s” sound when saying the plural version out loud. This sometimes confuses people because corpse (a dead body) is a completely different word, with different pronunciation and meaning, despite the similar spelling.