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House of Representatives

American  

noun

  1. the lower legislative branch in many national and state bicameral governing bodies, as in the United States, Mexico, and Japan. H.R., HR

House of Representatives British  

noun

  1. (in the US) the lower chamber of Congress

  2. (in Australia) the lower chamber of Parliament

  3. the sole chamber of New Zealand's Parliament: formerly the lower chamber

  4. (in the US) the lower chamber in many state legislatures

"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
House of Representatives Cultural  

  1. The lower house of the United States Congress. With 435 popularly elected officials, the House (as it is often called) is the most representative body in the federal government. House seats are apportioned (see apportionment) relative to each state's population. Because of its larger size, the House tends to maintain a closer link to local constituent concerns than the Senate, though both houses of Congress participate in virtually all aspects of legislation and policymaking. The Speaker of the House is one of the most influential officials in Washington, D.C., and is second in succession to the presidency, after the vice president.

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.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to extend the crackdown until 2029.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

He espoused many of the same ideals as an elected official in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, before leaving the political stage for reality TV.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

The midterm elections are scheduled for November, and will feature races for the US House of Representatives, a third of the US Senate, and multiple governor and state legislature races.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

That legislation will cost Washington roughly $2 billion to $3 billion over the next three years, said Joe Fitzgibbon, the Democratic majority leader in Washington’s House of Representatives.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Instead, the election was decided in the House of Representatives, which voted John Quincy Adams the nation’s sixth president.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

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.