Meaning & use
bond referendum
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
a public vote in which people decide whether their local government may borrow money for a project
Grammar: Countable: a bond referendum, two bond referendums. The plural can also be bond referenda in formal writing.
Patterns
- hold a bond referendum
- a bond referendum on something
- voters approve a bond referendum
The school district held a bond referendum to pay for a new gym.
Voters rejected the bond referendum, so the road repairs were delayed.
A bond referendum on the ballot asked whether the city could borrow $40 million.
noununcountabletechnical
the practice of putting a borrowing proposal to voters instead of letting officials decide alone
Grammar: Used as an uncountable idea: bond referendum is required by state law.
Patterns
- require bond referendum
- use bond referendum for something
State law requires bond referendum before the county can issue debt.
They turned to bond referendum after residents complained about secret spending.
Word forms
| plural | bond referendums |
|---|---|
| plural (formal) | bond referenda |
Common combinations
- hold a bond referendum
- The town will hold a bond referendum in November.
- pass a bond referendum
- Voters passed the bond referendum by a narrow margin.
- defeat a bond referendum
- A small group campaigned to defeat the bond referendum.
- a bond referendum on the ballot
- There are two bond referendums on the ballot this spring.
- approve a bond referendum
- The council approved a bond referendum for a new library.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bond issue
- This means the actual sale of bonds; a bond referendum is the vote that allows it.
- ballot measure
- This is a wider term for any question put to voters, not only one about borrowing.
- plebiscite
- This is a formal or national vote on a big question, much larger in scale than a local bond referendum.
Word family
- bond noun
- a loan in the form of a certificate that pays interest
- referendum noun
- a direct vote by the public on one question
Commonly confused: bond referendum or bond election?
bond referendum vs bond election
Very close in meaning, but bond election can also mean the election of officials who support bonds; bond referendum focuses on the borrowing question itself.
Practice
The city wants to build a new fire station, so it will ______ a bond referendum next spring.
Choose one answer.
'Hold a bond referendum' is the standard collocation for running such a vote. 'Make' and 'do' do not collocate with referendum, and 'take a referendum' is not used in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bond referendum”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.