conference
Americannoun
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conferences
plural
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a meeting for consultation or discussion.
a conference between a student and his adviser.
- Synonyms:
- colloquium, parley
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the act of conferring or consulting together; consultation, especially on an important or serious matter.
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Government. a meeting, as of various committees, to settle disagreements between the two branches of the legislature.
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an association of athletic teams; league.
an intercollegiate conference.
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Ecclesiastical.
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an official assembly of clergy or of clergy and laity, customary in many Christian denominations.
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a group of churches whose representatives regularly meet in such an assembly.
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verb (used without object)
noun
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a meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion, esp one with a formal agenda
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a formal meeting of two or more states, political groups, etc, esp to discuss differences or formulate common policy
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an assembly of the clergy or of clergy and laity of any of certain Protestant Christian Churches acting as representatives of their denomination
the Methodist conference
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sport a league or division of clubs or teams
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rare an act of bestowal
Synonym Usage
See convention.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of conference
From the Medieval Latin word conferentia, dating back to 1530–40. See confer, -ence
Explanation
A conference is a formal get-together where people talk (or "confer") about a chosen topic, like when your office holds a conference to talk about the problem of snoring during meetings. A conference can also be a public meeting arranged for discussion, such as a press conference or a national conference for a particular group. For example, you may no longer have much interest in 18th-century coins, but you still attend the annual conference for coin collectors because it is always held at a hotel in Aruba. A conference can also refer to a sports league, such as for baseball or football.
Vocabulary lists containing conference
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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"The American Pageant," Vocabulary from Chapters 30-32
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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.
See Examples For:
Countries will negotiate for two weeks with leaders, including Prime Minister Andy Burnham, attending the conference this week.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Turkey is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference.
From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026
When asked about the prospect at a UFC news conference, White said “I’ve got a lot of jobs already.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026
Ron Baron’s annual investment conference often includes a conversation with the SpaceX CEO Baron calls “Starman.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
This conference room feels too big, too empty.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
No other Nvidia executive is well-known to investors, aside from Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, a 13-year veteran of the company who speaks on the company’s earnings call and at conferences.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026
In addition to tours, the winery’s owners are pitching the place as a local gathering spot—with concerts and open-mic nights—and a venue for events such as weddings and corporate conferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026
A master in using news conferences as a continuation of what happens on the pitch, perhaps Mourinho revealed his methods in the hope that future opponents of Barcelona would take note.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
After Kane and Alexia Putellas had been crowned the winners in the two main categories, they then spoke to the world's media in separate press conferences.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Instead, he goes to conferences on girls’ education and he speaks out for peace as he used to do in Swat.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
He whispered to one of his attorneys while his lead lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, conferenced with the judge and prosecutors at the front of the courtroom.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
Which gets us to that footnote, in which Justice Alito writes, “That constitutional question was argued and conferenced nearly seven months ago.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Gomes telephoned his mother, who then allegedly conferenced Price into the call, prosecutors said.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 24, 2020
With two other colleagues conferenced in, they discussed the possibility of a byline strike.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2016
I have already conferenced with Rae, and now Ethan’s conference is going over.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
The video conferencing company also bumped up its guidance for the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
She’s missed only a handful of the energy siting council’s monthly meetings in the past decade, driving all around the state before video conferencing became common.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
Neufeld is in the process of fine-tuning a Zoom-based edition of “Code Green,” hoping the video conferencing service could help expose it to nonstudents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
It lets me record calls by conferencing in a third-party number.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2024
After sitting for an interview, Nilekani gave our TV crew a tour of Infosys’s global conferencing center—ground zero of the Indian outsourcing industry.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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