conference
Americannoun
-
conferences
plural
-
a meeting for consultation or discussion.
a conference between a student and his adviser.
- Synonyms:
- colloquium, parley
-
the act of conferring or consulting together; consultation, especially on an important or serious matter.
-
Government. a meeting, as of various committees, to settle disagreements between the two branches of the legislature.
-
an association of athletic teams; league.
an intercollegiate conference.
-
Ecclesiastical.
-
an official assembly of clergy or of clergy and laity, customary in many Christian denominations.
-
a group of churches whose representatives regularly meet in such an assembly.
-
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion, esp one with a formal agenda
-
a formal meeting of two or more states, political groups, etc, esp to discuss differences or formulate common policy
-
an assembly of the clergy or of clergy and laity of any of certain Protestant Christian Churches acting as representatives of their denomination
the Methodist conference
-
sport a league or division of clubs or teams
-
rare an act of bestowal
Synonym Usage
See convention.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of conference
From the Medieval Latin word conferentia, dating back to 1530–40. See confer, -ence
Explanation
A conference is a formal get-together where people talk (or "confer") about a chosen topic, like when your office holds a conference to talk about the problem of snoring during meetings. A conference can also be a public meeting arranged for discussion, such as a press conference or a national conference for a particular group. For example, you may no longer have much interest in 18th-century coins, but you still attend the annual conference for coin collectors because it is always held at a hotel in Aruba. A conference can also refer to a sports league, such as for baseball or football.
Vocabulary lists containing conference
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The American Pageant," Vocabulary from Chapters 30-32
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Prosecutors say the device, wrapped in toilet paper, was found inserted in a USB port on the back of a TV in an executive conference room.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Alfozan was caught on security footage from inside the restricted conference room where he appeared to look behind the television where the recording device had been placed, the Department said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Federal prosecutors alleged Tuesday that the suspect, a 35-year-old man named Abdulrahman Alfozan, concealed the small black device in toilet paper and hid it behind a television in an OpenAI conference room in late September.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The research was presented at a press conference on June 17, 2026, during the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
The first morning of the conference, they’d followed a crowd of thousands out of the casino and into the vast main ballroom to attend the opening ceremony.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The Commons sits on Monday for the first time since 15 September, having been in recess during some of the party conferences.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Press conferences on consecutive days underline her message: “strong demand for more compute,” “AI is incredibly good for the world,” and “memory is overall supply-constrained.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Once the Court had those documents and the amicus briefs, the whole packet was distributed to the justices at 10 separate conferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
More than 30 million people watched January's college football national championship on TV while the major conferences -- regional groupings of universities that organize competition and negotiate media rights -- have signed multibillion-dollar broadcasting contracts.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
Walter and I traveled to legal conferences and spoke about his experience and about the death penalty.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
He whispered to one of his attorneys while his lead lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, conferenced with the judge and prosecutors at the front of the courtroom.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
Which gets us to that footnote, in which Justice Alito writes, “That constitutional question was argued and conferenced nearly seven months ago.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Gomes telephoned his mother, who then allegedly conferenced Price into the call, prosecutors said.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 24, 2020
Buck’s petition is expected to be conferenced by the U.S.
From Time ● Apr. 20, 2016
I have already conferenced with Rae, and now Ethan’s conference is going over.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
The video conferencing company said it had 30% growth in its channel pipeline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
She’s missed only a handful of the energy siting council’s monthly meetings in the past decade, driving all around the state before video conferencing became common.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
We connect via video conferencing software, her location in the U.S. a secret, and Mariya appears in her anime form, her silver-white hair occasionally obscuring her welcoming oval eyes, which blink often as she speaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025
Sharoudi became friends with Hush, who was telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland video conferencing manager.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025
After sitting for an interview, Nilekani gave our TV crew a tour of Infosys’s global conferencing center—ground zero of the Indian outsourcing industry.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
