caucus
[ kaw-kuhs ]
/ ˈkɔ kəs /
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noun, plural cau·cus·es.
U.S. Politics.
- a local meeting of party members to select candidates, elect convention delegates, etc.
- a meeting of party members within a legislative body to select leaders and determine strategy.
- (often initial capital letter) a faction within a legislative body that pursues its interests through the legislative process: the Women's Caucus; the Black Caucus.
any group or meeting organized to further a special interest or cause.
verb (used without object)
to hold or meet in a caucus.
verb (used with object)
to bring up or hold for discussion in a caucus: The subject was caucused.
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.
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Origin of caucus
An Americanism first recorded in 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; or perhaps from Virginia Algonquian Cawcawwassough “elders of the Chickahominy people”
Words nearby caucus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
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British Dictionary definitions for caucus
caucus
/ (ˈkɔːkəs) /
noun plural -cuses
verb
(intr) to hold a caucus
Word Origin for caucus
C18: probably of Algonquian origin; related to caucauasu adviser
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for caucus
caucus
[ (kaw-kuhs) ]
A meeting of members of a political party to nominate candidates, choose convention delegates, plan campaign tactics, determine party policy, or select leaders for a legislature.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.