WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

course of action
    n 1: a mode of action; "if you persist in that course you will
         surely fail"; "once a nation is embarked on a course of
         action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to
         take place" [syn: course, course of action]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

41 Moby Thesaurus words for "course of action":
   action, ad hoc measure, answer, artifice, contrivance, countermove,
   coup, demarche, device, dodge, effort, expedient, gimmick,
   improvisation, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, last expedient,
   last resort, last shift, makeshift, maneuver, means, measure, move,
   pis aller, resort, resource, shake-up, shift, solution, step,
   stopgap, stratagem, stroke, stroke of policy, tactic,
   temporary expedient, trick, trump, working hypothesis,
   working proposition