Meaning & use
congress
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Meanings
nouncountable
A large formal meeting of delegates, often from different places, to discuss a field or make decisions.
Grammar: Countable and lowercase: an annual congress of doctors.
Patterns
- a congress of something
- attend a congress
Hundreds of physicists attended the annual congress in Geneva.
The teachers' union holds its congress every two years.
The congress voted to change its constitution.
proper nounproperAmerican
The lawmaking body of the United States, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, or a similar national body in other countries.
Grammar: Capitalized: Congress; usually used without the.
Patterns
- pass through Congress
- a member of Congress
Congress passed the budget just before the deadline.
She is a member of Congress from Ohio.
The bill must be approved by both houses of Congress.
Word forms
| plural | congresses |
|---|
Common combinations
- member of Congress
- Her aunt is a member of Congress.
- party congress
- The party congress elected a new leader.
- congress meets
- Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington.
- an international congress
- The city hosted an international congress on climate science.
- pass in Congress
- The law was passed in Congress last spring.
Synonyms and how they differ
- convention
- A convention is a gathering of members of a group, often for a party or trade, and is more commonly used for U.S. political parties.
- conference
- A conference is a more general and often smaller meeting than a congress.
- assembly
- Assembly is the broad word for a gathering or lawmaking body, with no suggestion of delegates.
- legislature
- Legislature is the generic term for any lawmaking body, while Congress names a specific one.
Word family
- congressional adjective
- relating to Congress
- congressman noun
- a male member of Congress
- congresswoman noun
- a female member of Congress
- congressperson noun
- a member of Congress, in gender-neutral form
Commonly confused: congress or congregation? congress or conference?
congress vs congregation
A congregation is a group of people gathered for worship, not a decision-making assembly.
congress vs conference
A conference is usually shorter and less formal than a congress.
Practice
Which sentence correctly refers to the American lawmaking body?
Choose one answer.
Congress is capitalized and used without an article when it names the U.S. legislature. The lowercase and plural forms refer to ordinary meetings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “congress”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.