government
Americannoun
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the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration.
Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.
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the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed.
monarchical government; episcopal government.
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the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.
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a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole.
a dam built by the government.
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(in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)
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the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time.
The prime minister has formed a new government.
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the parliament along with the cabinet.
The government has fallen.
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direction; control; management; rule.
the government of one's conduct.
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a district governed; province.
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Grammar. the extablished usage that requires that one word in a sentence should cause another to be of a particular form.
the government of the verb by its subject.
noun
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the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs, etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and administration
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the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled
tyrannical government
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the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration
yesterday we got a new government
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( capital when of a specific country )
the British Government
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the state and its administration
blame it on the government
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( as modifier )
a government agency
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regulation; direction
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grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word
Grammar
See collective noun.
Pronunciation
Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first of assimilates to the immediately following , with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation . This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel, . Further assimilation, in which the labiodental , in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following , becomes the bilabial stop , leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation . See isn't.
Other Word Forms
- countergovernment noun
- governmental adjective
- governmentally adverb
- nongovernment noun
- nongovernmental adjective
- pro-government adjective
- regovernment noun
- semigovernmental adjective
- semigovernmentally adverb
- subgovernment noun
- undergovernment noun
- ungovernmental adjective
- ungovernmentally adverb
Etymology
Origin of government
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Old French word governement. See govern, -ment
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.
The government released nearly 3,000 more for the visit by Pope Benedict XVI and some 3,500 for the visit of Pope Francis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Lapid, who has frequently criticised the Israeli government, says he understands the wave of anti-Israel feeling washing around parts of the world.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
The government had already dropped plans to include second hand cars in the ban, and now it has decided to scrap the policy altogether.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
India's government has stressed that the country's energy supplies are stable, but several commercial eateries across the country have shut since the war began due to a shortage of cooking gas.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
They said they came from the government in Accra with news of the utmost importance.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
