caucus

CEFRC1

/ˈkɔː.kəs/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of people in a political party who meet to plan.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A grouping of all the members of a legislature from the same party.

Examples

  • Some states select primary candidates by caucus, while others hold an election.

  • Tom won the Iowa caucus but did not become president.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A political interest group by members of a legislative body.

  2. A usually preliminary meeting of party members to nominate candidates for public office or delegates to be sent to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding policy.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To meet and participate in a caucus.

More examples

In context

  • Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut said yesterday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats in the new Congress, but he would not rule out switching to the Republican caucus if he starts to feel uncomfortable among Democrats.

  • He conferred with Mr. Warren of Plymouth upon the necessity of giving into spirited measures, and then said, "Do you keep the committee in play, and I will go and make a caucus against the evening; and do you meet me."

  • The diehard Republicans of Kansas caucused today and delivered a big victory for Mike Huckabee, McCain's remaining serious challenger.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The party members held a blank to choose their next candidate.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Unknown. Often claimed to be from an Algonquian language; transcribed words such as cawaassough and caucauasu meaning "counselor, elder, adviser" appear in early texts. A popular folk etymology attested in Great Leaders and National Issues of 1896 stated: "In the early part of the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the shipping business in the North End of Boston held a meeting for consultation. That meeting was the germ of the political caucuses which have formed so prominent a feature of our government ever since its organization." American Heritage Dictionary states the term is taken from the Caucus Club of Boston in the 1760s, possibly from Medieval Latin caucus (“dr...