committee

American  

[kuh-mit-ee] / kəˈmɪt i /

noun

1. a person or group of persons elected or appointed to perform some service or function, as to investigate, report on, or act upon a particular matter.

2. standing committee.

3. Law. an individual to whom the care of a person or a person's estate is committed.

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committee British  

noun

1. a group of people chosen or appointed to perform a specified service or function

2. (formerly) a person to whom the care of a mentally incompetent person or his property was entrusted by a court See also receiver

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

• committeeism noun
• committeeship noun

Etymology

Origin of committee

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Anglo-French; commit, -ee

Example Sentences

Trying to insulate Two Sigma from their strife, they settled on a new leadership structure where each of them got to name one member to the firm’s two-person management committee.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Highland Council's south planning applications committee approved the plans on Wednesday, subject to a number of conditions.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

First, last year, Overdeck retook Lyons’s seat on the management committee, though Lyons remained co-CEO.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

A Senedd health and social care committee report found more than 300,000 people in Wales provided unpaid care, but there had been "little improvement" for them since 2019.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Not only was Einarsson a member of the Icelandic committee that had helped secure Bobby’s release from imprisonment, he’d also been a leading banker before introducing the Visa credit card to Iceland.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• board
• bureau
• cabinet
• chamber
• commission
• jury
• panel
• task force