an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.
The principal will speak to all the students at Friday's assembly.
a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.
(often initial capital letter) a legislative body, especially the lower house of the legislature in certain states of the U.S..
a bill before the assembly; the New York State Assembly.
Military.
a signal, as by drum or bugle, for troops to fall into ranks or otherwise assemble.
the movement of forces, tanks, soldiers, etc., scattered by battle or battle drill, toward and into a small area.
the putting together of complex machinery, as airplanes, from interchangeable parts of standard dimensions.
Machinery. a group of machine parts, especially one forming a self-contained, independently mounted unit.
a number of people gathered together, esp for a formal meeting held at regular intervals
the act of assembling or the state of being assembled
the process of putting together a number of parts to make a machine or other product
machinery a group of mating components before or after fitting together
military
a signal for personnel to assemble, as by drum, bugle, etc
( as modifier )
an assembly area
the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly
short for General Assembly
What does assembly mean? An assembly is a gathering of people, usually for some specific reason, as in The preacher gave a sermon before the assembly. Assembly is used to refer to a group of people who have gathered together. Usually, the people have a reason to come together such as for religious, political, or social purposes. Assembly can also refer to the gathering or coming together of people, as in The principal organized an assembly of all of the parents. Assembly can also refer to a legislative body in which politicians gather to perform the political process. In this case, assembly is often capitalized when it’s a part of the name of the body, as in The bill was discussed by the California State Assembly. Lastly, assembly can refer to the act of putting something together or fitting parts together, as in Jorge helped his granddaughter with the assembly of the model airplane. Assembly comes from the verb assemble, which usually means to gather things or people together, as in The players assembled into a group huddle. Example: The police chief spoke to an assembly of citizens concerned about theft in the neighborhood.
See convention.
1275–1325; Middle English assemblee < Middle French, literally, (that which is) assembled, feminine past participle of assembler to assemble
Use the noun assembly to refer group of people meeting up for a mutual purpose, such as a church service. Often used to describing a gathering of people, the word assembly can also refer to putting something together, such as a machine or a piece of furniture. No matter if the individual components are people or objects, assembly implies a bringing together. You may be familiar with the term "freedom of assembly," which is considered a basic human right. It means that people are free to peacefully gather together to protest the government, to worship, to hold a public meeting . . . or even to play poker. This allows people to exchange information and pursue mutual goals.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Everett operation is based closely on the MAX assembly lines in Renton.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
The new bill has been introduced in the assembly by Sinn Féin assembly member Danny Baker.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The company plans to build a second assembly line for the Tacoma at the San Antonio plant where it currently assembles larger pickups and SUVs, adding 2,000 jobs, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Newport Beach police declared an unlawful assembly in the area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
On the day before the elections, George and I had to give speeches before a school assembly.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
The National Assembly approved the bill at first reading in January but the Senate later amended it to target only the most harmful platforms, prompting concern in Brussels.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Shannon Murphy, the firm’s co-founder and a former communications representative for Mayor Karen Bass when she was in the State Assembly 16 years ago, did not answer specific questions about the lobbying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“To really wake up the public — the General Assembly and Capitol Square crowd — we had to go to the direct democracy route with a constitutional amendment,” Owens said.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
On June 18, Cuba’s National Assembly unanimously approved a package of 176 market-oriented reforms, the most far-reaching economic overhaul since the 1959 revolution.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Professor Binns had asked for a three- foot-long composition on “The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards.”
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
A compelling model comes from the burgeoning global movement of citizens’ assemblies — deliberative bodies in which a randomly selected, representative cross-section of the public is convened to consider complex policy questions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
There were no farewell assemblies, no tearful speeches under a mango tree.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
It’s equipped with state-of-the-art amenities to host student performances and school assemblies, but also to train the next generation of theater technicians.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
The only exterior detail I couldn’t come to terms with were the rose-gold accents in the headlamp assemblies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
In fact, for a moment, it was almost like we were listening to her again at one of her morning assemblies as she drifted off on tangents none of us could follow.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
