CONGRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Congress mean? 

• CONGRESS (noun)
  The noun CONGRESS has 4 senses:

1. the legislature of the United States government

2. a meeting of elected or appointed representatives

3. a national legislative assembly

4. the social act of assembling for some common purpose

  Familiarity information: CONGRESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONGRESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The legislature of the United States government

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Congress; U.S. Congress; United States Congress; US Congress

Hypernyms ("Congress" is a kind of...):

general assembly; law-makers; legislative assembly; legislative body; legislature (persons who make or amend or repeal laws)

Meronyms (members of "Congress"):

Senate; U.S. Senate; United States Senate; US Senate (the upper house of the United States Congress)

House of Representatives; U.S. House; U.S. House of Representatives; United States House of Representatives; US House; US House of Representatives (the lower legislative house of the United States Congress)

Holonyms ("Congress" is a member of...):

legislative branch (the branch of the United States government that has the power of legislating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A meeting of elected or appointed representatives

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("congress" is a kind of...):

group meeting; meeting (a formally arranged gathering)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "congress"):

Continental Congress (the legislative assembly composed of delegates from the rebel colonies who met during and after the American Revolution; they issued the Declaration of Independence and framed Articles of Confederation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A national legislative assembly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("congress" is a kind of...):

general assembly; law-makers; legislative assembly; legislative body; legislature (persons who make or amend or repeal laws)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The social act of assembling for some common purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

coming together; congress; meeting

Context example:

the lovers met discreetly for the purposes of sexual congress

Hypernyms ("congress" is a kind of...):

assemblage; assembly; gathering (the social act of assembling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "congress"):

rendezvous (a meeting planned at a certain time and place)

session (a meeting devoted to a particular activity)

socialisation; socialising; socialization; socializing (the act of meeting for social purposes)

visit (the act of going to see some person in a professional capacity)

visit (the act of visiting in an official capacity (as for an inspection))

visit (the act of going to see some person or place or thing for a short time)

 Context examples 

The transplant network established by the U.S. Congress under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.

(Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, NCI Thesaurus)

Established by an act of Congress in 1990 it provides for screening exams to underserved women.

(National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, NCI Thesaurus)

The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) was established in 1925 by the International Congress of Radiology.

(International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, NCI Thesaurus)

Allen and Sneff are working with British officials and the Library of Congress to run non-invasive tests on the document.

(Parchment Copy of Declaration of Independence Found in Small British Town, VOA)

Its mission is to communicate accurate information about cancer and NCI activities to a wide array of audiences, including: cancer patients, family members, health care providers, community health educators, advocates, Congress, the media, and the general public.

(Office of Communications, NCI Thesaurus)

The study of 2.8 million people from anonymized patient records presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Glasgow gives an indication of the extent to which obesity can take a toll on people’s health in the real world – as opposed to clinical trials.

(Middle Age Severely Obese People More Likely to Die Early, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

'Challenger, George Edward. Born: Largs, N. B., 1863. Educ.: Largs Academy; Edinburgh University. British Museum Assistant, 1892. Assistant-Keeper of Comparative Anthropology Department, 1893. Resigned after acrimonious correspondence same year. Winner of Crayston Medal for Zoological Research. Foreign Member of'—well, quite a lot of things, about two inches of small type—'Societe Belge, American Academy of Sciences, La Plata, etc., etc. Ex-President Palaeontological Society. Section H, British Association'—so on, so on!—'Publications: Some Observations Upon a Series of Kalmuck Skulls; Outlines of Vertebrate Evolution; and numerous papers, including The underlying fallacy of Weissmannism, which caused heated discussion at the Zoological Congress of Vienna. Recreations: Walking, Alpine climbing. Address: Enmore Park, Kensington, W.' There, take it with you.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)