| Library / English Dictionary |
CONFERENCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("conference" is a kind of...):
discussion; give-and-take; word (an exchange of views on some topic)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conference"):
bull session (an informal discussion (usually among men))
colloquy (a conversation especially a formal one)
consultation (a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question)
audience; consultation; interview (a conference (usually with someone important))
huddle; powwow ((informal) a quick private conference)
news conference; press conference (a conference at which press and tv reporters ask questions of a politician or other celebrity)
pretrial; pretrial conference ((law) a conference held before the trial begins to bring the parties together to outline discovery proceedings and to define the issues to be tried; more useful in civil than in criminal cases)
round-table conference; round table; roundtable (a meeting of peers for discussion and exchange of views)
session (a meeting for execution of a group's functions)
teach-in (an extended session (as on a college campus) for lectures and discussion on an important and usually controversial issue)
teleconference; teleconferencing (a conference of people who are in different locations that is made possible by the use of such telecommunications equipment as closed-circuit television)
Derivation:
confer (have a conference in order to talk something over)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members
Synonyms:
conference; league
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("conference" is a kind of...):
association (a formal organization of people or groups of people)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conference"):
class; division (a league ranked by quality)
Ivy League (a league of universities and colleges in the northeastern United States that have a reputation for scholastic achievement and social prestige)
hockey league (a league of hockey teams)
football league (a league of football teams)
bowling league (a league of bowling teams)
basketball league (a league of basketball teams)
baseball league (a league of baseball teams)
bush league; minor league; minors (a league of teams that do not belong to a major league (especially baseball))
big league; major league; majors (the most important league in any sport (especially baseball))
Sense 3
Meaning:
A prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("conference" is a kind of...):
group meeting; meeting (a formally arranged gathering)
Meronyms (members of "conference"):
conferee (a member of a conference)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conference"):
symposium (a meeting or conference for the public discussion of some topic especially one in which the participants form an audience and make presentations)
seminar (any meeting for an exchange of ideas)
colloquium (an academic meeting or seminar usually led by a different lecturer and on a different topic at each meeting)
Instance hyponyms:
Potsdam Conference (a conference held in Potsdam in the summer of 1945 where Truman, Stalin, and Churchill drew up plans for the administration of Germany and Poland after World War II ended)
Yalta Conference (a conference held in Yalta in February 1945 where Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill planned the final stages of World War II and agreed to the territorial division of Europe)
Derivation:
confer (have a conference in order to talk something over)
Context examples:
It was thus imparted to her, as soon as any opportunity of private conference between them occurred.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
A major conference to be held at the Vatican is bringing together prominent biologists, ecologists and economists as part of the Biological Extinction conference in a bid to halt the mass extinction.
(Nearly Half the Planet's Species Could Be Wiped Out by the End of This Century, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The SI is maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM, for Bureau International des Poids et Mesures), and is updated every few years by an international conference, the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM, for Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures).
(International System of Units, NCI Thesaurus)
NCCAM awards grants for research projects, training, and career development in CAM; sponsors conferences, educational programs, and exhibits; studies ways to use proven CAM practices along with conventional medical practice; and supports adding CAM to medical, dental, and nursing school programs.
(NCCAM, NCI Dictionary)
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awards grants for research projects, training, and career development in CAM; sponsors conferences, educational programs, and exhibits; studies ways to use proven CAM practices along with conventional medical practice; and supports adding CAM to medical, dental, and nursing school programs.
(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, NCI Dictionary)
It was very desirable that Lady Russell should be no longer deceived; and one of the concluding arrangements of this important conference, which carried them through the greater part of the morning, was, that Anne had full liberty to communicate to her friend everything relative to Mrs Smith, in which his conduct was involved.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Kathrin Altwegg, the Principal Investigator for Rosina and an author in the new study, got a clue about what this molecule could be after being approached at a conference by an astronomer studying star-forming regions with ALMA: She said that phosphorus monoxide would be a very likely candidate, so I went back to our data and there it was!
(Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks, ESO)
When Laurie first went to college, he fell in love about once a month, but these small flames were as brief as ardent, did no damage, and much amused Jo, who took great interest in the alternations of hope, despair, and resignation, which were confided to her in their weekly conferences.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Contents include: Peer-reviewed reports on major oncology studies from around the world; Editorials and commentary by leading experts on key articles and current controversies in cancer; The latest news from the oncology community, book reviews, and conference and position announcements.
(Journal of the National Cancer Institute, NCI Thesaurus)
To her the conference closed as satisfactorily as to him.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
