preside
Americanverb (used without object)
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to occupy the place of authority or control, as in an assembly or meeting; act as president or chairperson.
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to exercise management or control (usually followed byover ).
The lawyer presided over the estate.
verb
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to sit in or hold a position of authority, as over a meeting
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to exercise authority; control
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to occupy a position as an instrumentalist
he presided at the organ
Other Word Forms
- presider noun
- unpresiding adjective
Etymology
Origin of preside
1605–15; < Latin praesidēre to preside over, literally, sit in front of, equivalent to prae- pre- + -sidēre, combining form of sedēre to sit 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Afterwards, Gandhi presided over waves of civil disobedience protests, encouraging supporters of the Indian National Congress to manufacture contraband salt, boycott foreign goods, and face down phalanxes of lathi-wielding policemen.
From BBC
The writer lived and worked in her childhood home in Jackson, Miss.—tending to her camellias, doting on her nieces and quietly presiding for many years as the matriarch of Southern letters.
The presiding judge said on Thursday that "most refused to appear", with the defendants' lawyers declining they be heard by videoconference and calling for them to appear in court instead.
From Barron's
The president is tasked with presiding over the agency's general assembly, but it is the secretary general who determines day-to-day operations in Lyon, Interpol's headquarters since 1989.
From Barron's
Barker eventually succeeded Meyer as principal auctioneer and has presided over milestone sales for the art world, as well as some of its most viral cultural moments.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
