Congress Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONGRESS

1

[count]

:

a formal meeting in which representatives or experts discuss important matters, make decisions, etc.

• a Communist Party congress
• an annual academic congress

2

a

:

the group of people who are responsible for making the laws of a country in some kinds of government

[count]

• She was recently elected to the country's congress.
• the congresses of Mexico and Chile

[noncount]

• acts of congress

b

Congress

[singular]

:

a particular congress

especially

:

the congress of the United States that includes the Senate and the House of Representatives

• The bill easily passed both houses of Congress.
• Congress is not currently in session.

3

[singular]

— used in the names of some political parties

• the Indian National Congress

— congressional

/kənˈgrɛʃənl̟/

adjective

• a congressional committee
• congressional investigators