Library / English Dictionary |
AUTHORITIES
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The organization that is the governing authority of a political unit
Example:
the matter was referred to higher authorities
Synonyms:
authorities; government; regime
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("authorities" is a kind of...):
polity (a politically organized unit)
Meronyms (parts of "authorities"):
administration; brass; establishment; governance; governing body; organisation; organization (the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something)
judicatory; judicature; judicial system; judiciary (the system of law courts that administer justice and constitute the judicial branch of government)
Meronyms (members of "authorities"):
division (an administrative unit in government or business)
government officials; officialdom (people elected or appointed to administer a government)
bench; judiciary (persons who administer justice)
executive (persons who administer the law)
general assembly; law-makers; legislative assembly; legislative body; legislature (persons who make or amend or repeal laws)
government department (a department of government)
Domain category:
administration; governance; governing; government; government activity (the act of governing; exercising authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authorities"):
authoritarian regime; authoritarian state (a government that concentrates political power in an authority not responsible to the people)
bureaucracy (a government that is administered primarily by bureaus that are staffed with nonelective officials)
ancien regime (a political and social system that no longer governs (especially the system that existed in France before the French Revolution))
court; royal court (the sovereign and his advisers who are the governing power of a state)
Downing Street (the British government)
empire (a group of countries under a single authority)
federal government (a government with strong central powers)
government-in-exile (a temporary government moved to or formed in a foreign land by exiles who hope to rule when their country is liberated)
local government (the government of a local area)
military government; stratocracy (government by the military and an army)
palace (the governing group of a kingdom)
papacy; pontificate (the government of the Roman Catholic Church)
pupet regime; puppet government; puppet state (a government that is appointed by and whose affairs are directed by an outside authority that may impose hardships on those governed)
state (the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state)
state government (the government of a state in the United States)
totalitarian state; totalitation regime (a government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures)
Context examples:
These, under the name of precedents, they produce as authorities to justify the most iniquitous opinions; and the judges never fail of directing accordingly.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Van Helsing is off to the British Museum looking up some authorities on ancient medicine.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
In two or three days more, I was informed by the authorities of his having led to the discovery of sirloins of beef among the kitchen-stuff, and sheets in the rag-bag.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"He'd kill them on sight. If he didn't bankrupt me with damage suits, the authorities would take him away from me and electrocute him."
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Yesterday a lady, who has been known as Mme. Henri Fournaye, occupying a small villa in the Rue Austerlitz, was reported to the authorities by her servants as being insane.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It serves as a common meeting ground for the many federal agencies that sponsor or directly conduct relevant work as well as state and local health authorities.
(National Cancer Policy Board, NCI Thesaurus)
Opinions of respected authorities based on clinical experience, consensus statements from expert committees, or authoritative reviews.
(Level of Evidence IV, NCI Dictionary)
The operating authorities provided to grantees under certain research grant mechanisms that waive the requirement for NIH prior approval for specific actions i.e., change budget categories amounts.
(Expanded Authorities, NCI Thesaurus)
Egypt authorities announced Saturday that archaeologists had discovered two small ancient tombs in Luxor, a southern city.
(Discovery of Two Tombs Dating Back 3,500 Years Announced in Egypt, VOA)