meeting
Americannoun
-
meetings
plural
-
the act of coming together.
a chance meeting in the park.
- Synonyms:
- rendezvous, confrontation, encounter
-
an assembly or conference of persons for a specific purpose.
a ten o'clock business meeting.
-
the body of persons present at an assembly or conference.
to read a report to the meeting.
-
a hostile encounter; duel.
-
an assembly for religious worship, especially of Quakers.
-
a place or point of contact; junction; juncture: the meeting of the waters.
the meeting of two roads;
the meeting of the waters.
idioms
noun
-
an act of coming together; encounter
-
an assembly or gathering
-
a conjunction or union
-
a sporting competition, as of athletes, or of horse racing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of meeting
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; meet 1 + -ing 1
Explanation
A meeting is the planned gathering of a group of people for a specific reason. You might attend a meeting for Trekkies who are all fans of "Star Trek," or you may decide to stay home and watch "Star Trek" reruns instead. Wise move. Meetings are arranged beforehand, and when you show up at one, there will be other people there for the same purpose. Your meeting might be your monthly book group or a quick huddle after work to plan your boss's surprise birthday party. Meeting can also mean "an encounter," like the chance meeting you have with your kindergarten teacher at the grocery store, or "the place things come together," like the meeting of two streams in your yard.
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:
After their meeting, Lobo confided to his secretary: “This is the end.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
A strong replacement front row was key to England swinging the match their way in a 25-7 win last year, the teams' most recent meeting.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Markets are currently pricing in a 71% chance of the Fed raising rates by one-quarter point at its meeting in December, according to FedWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The candidates will be considered by the Eurogroup at a meeting Monday, before European Union leaders make the final choice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
‘The others are meeting us there,’ she said.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Chemistry professor Brian Crane, who opposed the resolution, said he attended senate meetings on the topic and concluded that declaring “no-confidence” wouldn’t meaningfully address the problems facing Cornell—especially with Yates’ review just beginning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The Equipple app is used by many schools to schedule and book meetings between parents and teachers.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some foreign businesspeople have resorted to driving hundreds of miles between Gulf capitals to attend meetings in person while minimizing their exposure to airports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
“I still can’t get the stereotype out of my head of the L.A. writer who does all the things in L.A., like taking pitch meetings, getting coffee and being in writers’ rooms,” added Abularach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
Jefferson defended himself by claiming that his consultations with Bache were not clandestine meetings; he had met with Bache many times, true enough, but he was not, as the Federalists charged, “closeted” with him.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
