agency
Americannoun
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agencies
plural
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an organization, company, or bureau that provides a particular service.
We are a nonprofit agency for people experiencing food insecurity.
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a company having a franchise to represent another.
Perhaps we should be looking for a new advertising agency.
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a governmental bureau or administrative division, or an office that represents it.
My internship at the FDA led to job opportunities with other federal agencies.
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the place of business of an agent.
If you stop by the agency tomorrow, we can go over the details of the land sale.
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the duty or function of an agent.
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the relationship between a principal and an agent.
Investment firms must incentivize proper agency so that fund managers prioritize the investor’s interests over their own.
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the state of being in action or of exerting power; operation.
the agency of divine Providence.
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the capacity to act or exert power.
We may have our free agency, but we are responsible for our choices.
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a means of exerting power or influence; instrumentality.
nominated by the agency of friends.
- Synonyms:
- intercession
noun
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a business or other organization providing a specific service
an employment agency
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the place where an agent conducts business
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the business, duties, or functions of an agent
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action, power, or operation
the agency of fate
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intercession or mediation
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one of the administrative organizations of a government
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of agency
First recorded in 1650–60; from Medieval Latin agentia “ability,” from Latin ag(ere) “to do, drive” + -entia -ency
Explanation
An agency usually provides a service, like an aid organization or a government bureau. If you're looking for a job, an employment agency might be able to help. The Latin word agere means "to do or manage," and it's a fitting ancestor for agency, a word that means an institution that manages or specializes in something. As a secret agent, you might work for the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency. I hope you look good in black. The noun agency also refers to the power or ability to do something, as in the William McKinley quote, "War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”
Vocabulary lists containing agency
"The Harlem Renaissance"
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President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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Word Generation Social Studies - Complex Questions Related to American Democracy
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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:
The agency said firefighters were "aggressively attacking the fire from ground and air" and issued repeated pleas for people to stay clear of the area.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
The trend measure—a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts—was little changed for the month, nudging up 0.6% to 250,411, Canada’s national housing agency said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Skubal, whom they acquired at the trade deadline to boost their chances at a World Series title, is set to hit free agency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
A post office box or mail-receiving agency does not qualify.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Increasingly, the higher-ups at the agency came to see William as a loose cannon.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
What is certain is that such powers have long been sought by militaries and spy agencies throughout the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Foreign investors soured on Indonesia this year, in part due to broader risk-off sentiment dimming the appeal of emerging markets but also because of investability and transparency concerns raised by credit agencies and index providers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
In some instances, federal agencies have mounted criminal cases against recipients of taxpayer money earmarked for homelessness services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications released records of its conversations with other local agencies as it tried to confirm whether the call was genuine.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“At the ratings agencies the corporate credit people are the least bad,” says a quant who engineered mortgage bonds for Morgan Stanley.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
