caucus
Americannoun
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caucuses
plural
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U.S. Politics.
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a local meeting of party members to select candidates, elect convention delegates, etc.
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a meeting of party members within a legislative body to select leaders and determine strategy.
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Often Caucus a faction within a legislative body that pursues its interests through the legislative process.
the Women's Caucus; the Black Caucus.
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any group or meeting organized to further a special interest or cause.
verb (used without object)
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caucuses,
present (3rd person singular)
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caucused,
past participle, past
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caucusing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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caucuses,
present (3rd person singular)
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caucused,
past participle, past
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caucusing
present participle
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to bring up or hold for discussion in a caucus.
The subject was caucused.
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to bring together or poll in a caucus.
The paper caucused its new editorial board on Friday.
The chairman caucused the water pollution committee before making recommendations.
noun
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a closed meeting of the members of one party in a legislative chamber, etc, to coordinate policy, choose candidates, etc
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such a bloc of politicians
the Democratic caucus in Congress
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a group of leading politicians of one party
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a meeting of such a group
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a local meeting of party members
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a group or faction within a larger group, esp a political party, who discuss tactics, choose candidates, etc
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a group of MPs from one party who meet to discuss tactics, etc
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a formal meeting of all Members of Parliament belonging to one political party
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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caucussimple
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caucusessimple
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have caucusedperfect
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has caucusedperfect
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am caucusingprogressive
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are caucusingprogressive
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is caucusingprogressive
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have been caucusingperfect progressive
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has been caucusingperfect progressive
Past
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caucusedsimple
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had caucusedperfect
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was caucusingprogressive
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were caucusingprogressive
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had been caucusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of caucus
An Americanism dating back to 1755–65; apparently first used in the name of the Caucus Club of colonial Boston; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Medieval Latin caucus “drinking vessel,” Late Latin caucum, from Greek kaûkos; perhaps from Virginia Algonquian Cawcawwassough “elders of the Chickahominy people”
Explanation
The noun caucus is a closed meeting of members from the same political party. The Iowa caucuses get a lot of attention during the presidential primary season. Who knows how we got the noun caucus? One theory is that it comes from an Algonquin word that means an elder or leader of the tribe. Another theory is that the word comes from a social and political club in Boston in the 1700s that was perhaps named for the Greek word for drinking cup. However the word slipped into American English, today it refers to a closed political meeting, often used to choose party leaders.
Vocabulary lists containing caucus
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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:
“A caucus they could pull off; if they want to be as open and inclusive as possible, that’s probably their best option.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Party officials are reportedly talking about holding a statewide caucus or mini-convention to choose a replacement.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
In our study, leadership included the speaker, party leaders, whips, caucus or conference chairs, and committee chairs or ranking members.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
"Anyone with a large family knows. Everything works out in the end," said Carlos Portinho, leader of the PL caucus in the Senate.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Since her ailment compromised the safety of the others, we took up the problem in caucus.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The Vermont senator, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, had been one of Platner’s biggest supporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Among those who crossed the political aisle to support it were 10 Republicans and Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent from Rocklin, Calif., who caucuses with Republicans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
With Mejia’s addition, Democrats will have 214 representatives, while Republicans have 217, and one independent caucuses with the GOP.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2026
They were joined by Maine's Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, who also voted to reopen the government.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025
Several days later, a Thursday, the caucuses arrived.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Jones, who works part-time at a hospital, said she has never caucused before.
From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 2023
Mary Kinney, a Republican from Des Moines who caucused for Trump in 2016, was also critical of the charges.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
As he took his place on the stand, lawyers caucused briefly over how to address the witness, who also goes by the title Duke of Sussex.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
The price point for a deal remains around $50 million a season, according to those I have caucused, and Jackson almost certainly will seek record guarantees.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
We caucused among ourselves and lobbied all the residents of the house, and within weeks elected our own House Committee, defeating the upperclassmen.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Carroll Hinchion, a 30-year-old independent, is considering caucusing with Republicans as well and came to hear DeSantis in Council Bluffs.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
Monday, when people will be lining up to check-in before caucusing starts at 7 p.m., temperatures are expected to be minus 1 to minus 5 degrees, depending on what part of the state you're in.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2024
Despite caucusing with the most conservative members of Congress in the House Freedom Caucus, the libertarian-leaning Riggleman frequently worked across the aisle with Spanberger on issues such as expanding rural broadband.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 10, 2022
Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, was the only lawmaker caucusing with Democrats to oppose the bill.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2022
A recess of half an hour was then taken, and some little caucusing followed.
From Sketches New and Old, Part 7. by Mark Twain
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.
