upper house

noun

1. one of two branches of a legislature generally smaller and less representative than the lower branch, as the Senate of the U.S. Congress.

upper house

noun

1. Also called: upper chamber. (often capitals) one of the two houses of a bicameral legislature Compare lower house

Word History and Origins

Origin of upper house¹

First recorded in 1525–35

Example Sentences

But she needed a runoff to prevail in the upper house after falling just short of a majority in the first vote.

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Then it lost its majority in the upper house in July, amid public anger after a fundraising scandal.

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There are 174 members of the Dáil and another 60 Senators in the upper house, Seanad Éireann.

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But Falconer, who is sponsoring the bill in the Lords, has urged his colleagues respect the convention that laws backed by MPs are not blocked in the Upper House.

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Japan is currently seeing a drift towards the far-right, with the nationalist Sanseito emerging as one of the biggest winners of Japan's recent upper house parliamentary election.

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