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Showing results for government. Search instead for governments.
Synonyms

government

American  
[guhv-ern-muhnt, ‑er-muhnt] / ˈgʌv ərn mənt, ‑ər mənt /

noun

  1. 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.

  2. the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed.

    monarchical government; episcopal government.

  3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.

  4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole.

    a dam built by the government.

  5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)

    1. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time.

      The prime minister has formed a new government.

    2. the parliament along with the cabinet.

      The government has fallen.

  6. direction; control; management; rule.

    the government of one's conduct.

  7. a district governed; province.

  8. political science.

  9. 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.


government British  
/ ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl, ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl, ˈɡʌvənmənt, ˈɡʌvəmənt /

noun

  1. 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

  2. the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled

    tyrannical government

    1. the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration

      yesterday we got a new government

    2. ( capital when of a specific country )

      the British Government

    1. the state and its administration

      blame it on the government

    2. ( as modifier )

      a government agency

  3. regulation; direction

  4. grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Their assets were expropriated by the new government of Fidel Castro.

From The Wall Street Journal

Authorities without ties to the federal government should investigate ICE deaths and conduct autopsies, said Angélica César, a Human Rights Watch official monitoring ICE deaths in Texas.

From Salon

"My post is a simple question to government supporters and nothing else. It doesn't involve any community, any rumour or sensational news," Patil told BBC Marathi.

From BBC

That year, Lord Mansfield, one of the most celebrated chief justices in English legal history, reviewed the conviction of Charles Bembridge, a government accountant, who was accused of knowingly cooking the books.

From BBC

German industry, which is benefiting from the rollout of government stimulus following years of stagnation, led the rebound.

From The Wall Street Journal