Adjacent Words

caucus definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a closed political meeting v
1: meet to select a candidate or promote a policy

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1763 a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy; also a group of people united to promote an agreed-upon cause II. intransitive verb Date: 1788 to meet in or hold a caucus

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 US a a meeting of the members of a political party, esp. in the Senate etc., to decide policy. b a bloc of such members. c this system as a political force. 2 often derog. (esp. in the UK) a a usu. secret meeting of a group within a larger organization or party. b such a group. Etymology: 18th-c. US, perh. f. Algonquin cau' -cau-as' u adviser

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Caucus Cau"cus, n. [Etymology uncertain. Mr. J. H. Trumbull finds the origin of caucus in the N. A. Indian word cawcawwassough or ca['u] cau-as'u one who urges or pushes on, a promoter. See citation for an early use of the word caucus.] A meeting, especially a preliminary meeting, of persons belonging to a party, to nominate candidates for public office, or to select delegates to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding measures of party policy; a political primary meeting. This day learned that the caucus club meets, at certain times, in the garret of Tom Dawes, the adjutant of the Boston regiment. --John Adams's Diary [Feb., 1763].

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Caucus Cau"cus, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Caucused; p. pr. & vb. n. Caucusing.] To hold, or meet in, a caucus or caucuses.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(caucuses) A caucus is a group of people within an organization who share similar aims and interests or who have a lot of influence. (FORMAL) ...the Black Caucus of minority congressmen. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

assemblee, assembly, assignation, at home, ball, brawl, breakaway group, by-election, camp, closed primary, colloquium, commission, committee, conclave, concourse, congregation, congress, congressional caucus, congressional election, contested election, conventicle, convention, convocation, council, dance, date, diet, direct primary, division, eisteddfod, election, ethnic group, faction, festivity, fete, forgathering, forum, gathering, general election, gerrymander, get-together, housewarming, interest, interest group, levee, mandatory primary, meet, meeting, minority group, nonpartisan primary, offshoot, open primary, optional primary, packed caucus, panel, partisan election, party, plenum, political party, politicize, preference primary, presidential election, presidential preference primary, presidential primary, pressure group, primary, primary election, prom, quorum, rally, reception, referendum, rendezvous, runoff, runoff election, runoff primary, seance, secret caucus, sect, session, shindig, side, silent majority, sit-in, sitting, soiree, splinter, splinter group, symposium, synod, turnout, vocal minority, wing