foreign office

noun

1. the department of a government that handles foreign affairs.

foreign office

noun

1. US equivalent: State Department. Canadian equivalent: department of external affairs. the ministry of a country or state that is concerned with dealings with other states

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign office¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

In the latest correspondence, the housing department said it was unable to set a new deadline for fresh comments until it receives pending responses from the Foreign Office and Home Office.

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State visits are carried out on behalf of the government and a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The Catholic Church is the largest denomination of the world's largest religion."

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On 1 September, the National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, and the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, Sir Oliver Robbins, held a meeting in which what is described as the "bilateral handling" of the then forthcoming court case was discussed.

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His network's assets include a £100m office building on central London, a £12m mansion in North London and seventeen flats in the city, said the UK foreign office on Tuesday.

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The foreign office said Mr Chen and the Prince Group built casinos and compounds used as scam centres and laundered the proceeds.

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Related Words

• embassy