interpellation
Americannoun
-
a procedure in some legislative bodies of asking a government official to explain an act or policy, sometimes leading, in parliamentary government, to a vote of confidence or a change of government.
-
Sociology. a system of maintaining power over a population by imposing beliefs, values, and norms on that population rather than using force.
Etymology
Origin of interpellation
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin interpellātiōn-, stem of interpellātiō “interruption.” See interpellate, -ion
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.
A walkout of coal miners at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, last month, was the subject of an interpellation in the House of Commons at Ottawa.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Government consented to listen to an interpellation on the sardine-packers' strike in Brittany, but the Right Opposition objected and showed their antipathy by banging their desk-lids and shouting.
From Time Magazine Archive
Had the old fox told his Deputies to vote for interpellation?
From Time Magazine Archive
In addition to pursuing its legislative program, the Duma members voiced the country's protest against the shortcomings of the government, subjecting the various Ministers to searching interpellation, day after day.
From Bolshevism The Enemy of Political and Industrial Democracy by Spargo, John
The device of interpellation, for example, not only exists in theory; it means something, as elsewhere in Germany it does not, in actual operation.
From The Governments of Europe by Ogg, Frederic Austin
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.
