Adjacent Words

Committee definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMMITTEE, n. One or more persons, elected or appointed, to whom any matter or business is referred, either by a legislative body or either branch of it, or by a court, or by an corporation, or by any society, or collective body of men acting together. In legislative bodies, a house or branch of that body may resolve or form itself into a committee, called a committee of the whole hose, when the speaker leaves the chair, and one of the members acts as chairman. Standing committees are such as continue during the existence of the legislature, and to these are committed all matters that fall within the purposes of their appointment; as the committee of elections, or of privileges, etc. Special committees are appointed to consider and report on particular subjects.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle [syn: committee, commission]
2: a self-constituted organization to promote something [syn: committee, citizens committee]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. archaic a person to whom a charge or trust is committed 2. a. a body of persons delegated to consider, investigate, take action on, or report on some matter; especially a group of fellow legislators chosen by a legislative body to give consideration to legislative matters b. a self-constituted organization for the promotion of a common object

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a body of persons appointed for a specific function by, and usu. out of, a larger body. b such a body appointed by Parliament etc. to consider the details of proposed legislation. c (Committee) Brit. the whole House of Commons when sitting as a committee. 2 Law a person entrusted with the charge of another person or another person's property. Phrases and idioms: committee-man (pl. -men; fem. committee-woman, pl. -women) a member of a committee, esp. a habitual member of committees. committee stage Brit. the third of five stages of a bill's progress through Parliament when it may be considered in detail and amendments made. select committee a small parliamentary committee appointed for a special purpose. standing committee a committee that is permanent during the existence of the appointing body. Etymology: COMMIT + -EE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Committee Com*mit"tee, n. [Cf. OF. comit['e] company, and LL. comitatus jurisdiction or territory of a count, county, assize, army. The word was apparently influenced by the verb commit, but not directly formed from it. Cf. County.] One or more persons elected or appointed, to whom any matter or business is referred, either by a legislative body, or by a court, or by any collective body of men acting together. Committee of the whole [house], a committee, embracing all the members present, into which a legislative or deliberative body sometimes resolves itself, for the purpose of considering a particular measure under the operation of different rules from those governing the general legislative proceedings. The committee of the whole has its own chairman, and reports its action in the form of recommendations. Standing committee. See under Standing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Committee Com`mit*tee", n. [From Commit, v. t.] (Law) One to whom the charge of the person or estate of another, as of a lunatic, is committed by suitable authority; a guardian.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(committees) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. A committee is a group of people who meet to make decisions or plans for a larger group or organization that they represent. ...a committee of ministers. ...an elected Management Committee who serve the Association on a voluntary basis. N-COUNT-COLL: usu with supp

Moby Thesaurus

ad hoc committee, assemblee, assembly, assignation, at home, ball, board, body, brawl, cabinet, caucus, colloquium, commission, committee of one, conclave, concourse, congregation, congress, conventicle, convention, convocation, council, dance, date, delegation, deputation, diet, eisteddfod, festivity, fete, forgathering, forum, gathering, get-together, housewarming, levee, meet, meeting, mission, panel, party, plenum, prom, quorum, rally, reception, rendezvous, seance, session, shindig, sit-in, sitting, soiree, special committee, standing committee, subcommittee, symposium, synod, turnout