company
Americannoun
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companies
plural
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a number of individuals assembled or associated together; group of people.
- Synonyms:
- body, assemblage, group
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a guest or guests.
We're having company for dinner.
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an assemblage of persons for social purposes.
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companionship; fellowship; association.
I always enjoy her company.
-
one's usual companions.
I don't like the company he keeps.
-
society collectively.
- Synonyms:
- corporation, house, firm
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a number of persons united or incorporated for joint action, especially for business.
a publishing company;
a dance company.
-
(initial capital letter) the members of a firm not specifically named in the firm's title.
George Higgins and Company.
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Military.
-
the smallest body of troops, consisting of a headquarters and two or three platoons.
-
any relatively small group of soldiers.
-
Army. a basic unit with both tactical and administrative functions.
-
-
a unit of firefighters, including their special apparatus.
a hook-and-ladder company.
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Also called ship's company. a ship's crew, including the officers.
-
a medieval trade guild.
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Informal. the Company, a nation's major intelligence-gathering and espionage organization, as the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
verb (used without object)
-
companies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
companied,
past participle, past
-
companying
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
companies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
companied,
past participle, past
-
companying
present participle
idioms
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keep company,
-
to associate with; be a friend of.
-
Informal. to go together, as in courtship.
My sister has been keeping company with a young lawyer.
-
-
part company,
-
to cease association or friendship with.
We parted company 20 years ago after the argument.
-
to take a different or opposite view; differ.
He parted company with his father on politics.
-
to separate.
We parted company at the airport.
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noun
-
a number of people gathered together; assembly
-
the fact of being with someone; companionship
I enjoy her company
-
a social visitor or visitors; guest or guests
-
a business enterprise
-
Abbreviation: Co. co. the members of an enterprise not specifically mentioned in the enterprise's title
-
a group of actors, usually including business and technical personnel
-
a unit of around 100 troops, usually comprising two or more platoons
-
the officers and crew of a ship
-
a unit of Girl Guides
-
English history a medieval guild
-
-
to accompany (someone)
-
(esp of lovers) to associate with each other; spend time together
-
-
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to end a friendship or association, esp as a result of a quarrel; separate
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(foll by with) to leave; go away (from); be separated (from)
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verb
Usage
What does company mean? Company refers to a group of people. Company is a common word with many different specific meanings, but they all have to do with a gathering of people or interaction among a group of people. The word company perhaps most commonly refers to a business. Energizer is a company that makes and sells batteries. When company is used in the name of a business, it is often abbreviated as Co. Company can be the guests you have over to your house. It can also refer to the presence of others: enjoying the company of your cousins. Example: Sarah likes to walk home from school in the company of her best friend, Joe.
Synonym Usage
Company, band, party, troop refer to a group of people formally or informally associated. Company is the general word and means any group of people: a company of motorists. Band, used especially of a band of musicians, suggests a relatively small group pursuing the same purpose or sharing a common fate: a concert by a band; a band of survivors. Party, except when used of a political group, usually implies an indefinite and temporary assemblage, as for some common pursuit: a spelunking party. Troop, used specifically of a body of cavalry, usually implies a number of individuals organized as a unit: a troop of cavalry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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companysimple
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companiessimple
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have companiedperfect
-
has companiedperfect
-
am companyingprogressive
-
are companyingprogressive
-
is companyingprogressive
-
have been companyingperfect progressive
-
has been companyingperfect progressive
Past
-
companiedsimple
-
had companiedperfect
-
was companyingprogressive
-
were companyingprogressive
-
had been companyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of company
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French; Old French compaignie “companionship,” equivalent to compain (from Late Latin compāniō; see companion 1) + -ie -y 3
Explanation
Company most often implies a group, whether it be a group of people, a unit of firefighters, a small group of soldiers, or a group working for the same business. Company can also refer to a visitor, often for dinner. This usage is both singular and plural, so if your mom says "there's company coming for dinner," you will need to know how many places to set at the table. There are more than a few idioms using the word company. When you are with someone, you “keep company” with them. For the more dour, there is “misery loves company."
Vocabulary lists containing company
Theater - Introductory
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Business, List 1
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Theater - Middle School
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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:
Rich Greenfield, a longtime media analyst, called the deal a “slam dunk win” for Paramount because it didn’t require the company to sell off any assets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
The UK AI Security Institute's testing of AI models is currently on a voluntary basis and AI company Anthropic reportedly refused to submit its latest model for testing.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Data-security company Cyera raised $400 million from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, an extension to its $600 million Series G funding round in June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Tata fiasco came to a head last week when the board of Tata Sons, the group's holding company, granted Chandrasekaran another five-year term.
From Barron's
How different was this small company from the one that had started out so bravely this morning.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
"On top of that we have seen cyber-attacks on our companies and institutions. And we know that AI will multiply the threat."
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The companies have worked to address the issue, a person familiar with United’s program said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
But amid all the turmoil, veteran news executives inside and outside the companies involved were scratching their heads over exactly how an editorial board would operate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
"I do think boards may not be spending enough time looking at long-term succession. Often enough companies do not have a 'hit by the bus' contingent plan and are often caught off guard."
From Barron's
Too much went to pay overhead—consultants, intermediaries, transportation companies, government fees—and not enough reached those in need.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
It handed lucrative contracts to the country’s biggest construction companied.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2016
The companied initially tried to list its shares on the Hong Kong Exchange, which would seem to be a friendly home.
From Time ● Sep. 19, 2014
And presumably it is at least an implication of Bacon's dictum that our poor illiterate lonely hordes are neither companied nor "full", for reading accomplisheth fullness.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 17, 2011
Generals and admirals in varied uniforms, sun helmets, marine wool jackets, coveralls, khakis and tin hats, ac companied him on an inspection tour.
From Time Magazine Archive
His words contain for us all the very heart of our possible relation to Him, and teach us that we need envy none who companied with Him here.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI by Alexander Maclaren
These “young men and mayds” were convicted by the magistrate of “meeting at unseasonable times, and of night walking, and companying together contrary to civility and good nurture, tending to vitiate one another.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018
As it turned out, the U.S. newsmen ac companying Nixon faced dangers of their own when the Caracas mobs started to swarm the next day.
From Time Magazine Archive
Through the golden gate of the ear have gone what noble truths, companying together what messengers of affection, what sweet friendships.
From A Man's Value to Society Studies in Self Culture and Character by Newell Dwight Hillis
Sus 1:54 Now then, if thou hast seen her, tell me, Under what tree sawest thou them companying together?
From Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible Apocrypha by Anonymous
He grew up pleasant and polite, winsome and lovesome; a ravishment to all who saw him, and he inclined to companying with brethren and comrades and mixing with merchants and travelled men.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 12 [Supplement] by Sir Richard Francis Burton
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.
