committee

American  

[kuh-mit-ee] / kəˈmɪt i /

noun

• committees
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• committeeism
  noun
• committeeship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• committees
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of committee

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

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Explanation

A committee is a group of people who come together to work on a project. Members of a committee commit their efforts to accomplishing a particular task, which can be anything from throwing a party to ending a war. You could join the Committee to Protect Groundhogs, Bumblebees and Chickadees (yes, there really is one), or you might aspire to a committee that debates questions of national importance. Committees are often subgroups of larger bodies, and the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Agriculture, which focuses on issues in the farming and poultry industries, is a good example. Committee members become experts on issues in agriculture and the group can then make informed decisions efficiently.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

committee committees

In a 1963 Canadian Parliamentary committee, for example, a witness from the chemical industry prominently cited it as reason chemical pesticides were required: to feed the approaching population explosion.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Amarillo billionaire Alex Fairly, meanwhile, had maxed out to Paxton’s direct campaign account with a $7,000 donation in the spring; in late August, he gave $274,300 to Paxton’s joint fundraising committee.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

Next season, however, all it would take is being among the top 24 teams as deemed by the 13-member committee, which considers on-field performance, head-to-head results and strength of schedule the primary criteria.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Policymakers have to decide whether the forecast comes from the policy committee or is done by the staff, and to what degree the forecast is based on judgment versus models.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

In keeping with the compromise character of the committee report, it gave the Deep South the protection it had demanded by denying congressional authority to pass any gradual emancipation legislation.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

While maternal mortality review committees closely examine the deaths of mothers during the first year of a child's life, the researchers say paternal mortality has received little comparable attention.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

The lawmakers, as part of the minority party, don’t currently chair the committees involved or have the power to call public hearings or issue subpoenas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

It did not include contributions to party committees or independent committees that could also be spending in these races.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Knowing academia and the speed at which it tends to move, I interpreted “talk about teaching” as something closer to perhaps someday, pending several committees and a minor geological event.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

A number of committees were formed that day, but the primary purpose of the Youth League was to give direction to the ANC in its quest for political freedom.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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Related Words

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

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