meeting

/ˈmidɪŋ/
/ˈmitɪŋ/
IPA guide

Other forms: meetings

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.

Definitions of meeting
  1. noun
    the social act of assembling for some common purpose
    “his meeting with the salesmen was the high point of his day”
    synonyms: coming together
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    types:
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    rendezvous
    a meeting planned at a certain time and place
    session
    a meeting devoted to a particular activity
    socialisation, socialising, socialization, socializing
    the act of meeting for social purposes
    visit
    the act of going to see some person in a professional capacity
    visit
    the act of visiting in an official capacity (as for an inspection)
    visit, visitation
    the act of going to see some person or place or thing for a short time
    visitation
    an official visit for inspection or supervision
    site visit
    a visit in an official capacity to examine a site to determine its suitability for some enterprise
    call
    a visit in an official or professional capacity
    call
    a brief social visit
    visiting
    the activity of making visits
    assignation, tryst
    a secret rendezvous (especially between lovers)
    class period, course session, recitation
    a regularly scheduled session as part of a course of study
    flying visit
    a visit that last for only a very short time
    type of:
    assemblage, assembly, gathering
    the social act of assembling
  2. noun
    a formally arranged gathering
    “next year the meeting will be in Chicago”
    “the meeting elected a chairperson”
    synonyms: group meeting
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    types:
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    board meeting, committee meeting
    a meeting for administrative purposes
    camp meeting
    religious (usually evangelistic) meeting held in a large tent or outdoors and lasting several days
    caucus
    a closed political meeting
    conclave
    a confidential or secret meeting
    conference
    a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda)
    congress
    a meeting of elected or appointed representatives
    convention
    a large formal assembly
    council
    a meeting of people for consultation
    forum
    a public meeting or assembly for open discussion
    plenum
    a meeting of a legislative body at which all members are present
    psychotherapy group
    a meeting of people for psychotherapeutic purposes
    stockholders meeting
    a meeting at which the management reports to the stockholders of a company
    summit, summit meeting
    a meeting of heads of governments
    town meeting
    a meeting of the inhabitants of a town
    Constitutional Convention
    the convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787
    encounter group
    a meeting of people to develop mutual understanding by freely expressing emotions
    Continental Congress
    the legislative assembly composed of delegates from the rebel colonies who met during and after the American Revolution; they issued the Declaration of Independence and framed Articles of Confederation
    indaba
    a council at which indigenous peoples of southern Africa meet to discuss some important question
    Jirga
    a Pashto term for a decision making assembly of male elders
    powwow
    a council of or with Native Americans
    synod
    a council convened to discuss ecclesiastical business
    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
    type of:
    assemblage, gathering
    a group of persons together in one place
  3. noun
    a small informal social gathering
    “there was an informal meeting in my living room”
    synonyms: get together, get-together
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    conventicle
    a secret unauthorized meeting for religious worship
    appointment, date, engagement
    a meeting arranged in advance
    visit
    a meeting arranged by the visitor to see someone (such as a doctor or lawyer) for treatment or advice
    lunch meeting, luncheon meeting
    a meeting for lunch; usually to conduct business while eating
    power breakfast
    a meeting of influential people to conduct business while eating breakfast
    seance, session, sitting
    a meeting of spiritualists
    blind date
    a date with a stranger
    double date
    a date in which two couples participate
    rendezvous, tryst
    a date, usually with a love interest
    type of:
    social affair, social gathering
    a gathering for the purpose of promoting fellowship
  4. noun
    a casual or unexpected convergence
    “he still remembers their meeting in Paris”
    synonyms: encounter
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    types:
    alignment, conjunction
    (astronomy) apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies in the same degree of the zodiac
    inferior conjunction
    (astronomy) the alignment of the Earth and a planet on the same side of the sun
    superior conjunction
    (astronomy) the alignment of the Earth and a planet on the opposite side of the sun
    type of:
    convergence
    the occurrence of two or more things coming together
  5. noun
    the act of joining together as one
    “there was no meeting of minds”
    synonyms: coming together, merging
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    types:
    concourse, confluence
    a coming together of people
    type of:
    convergence, convergency, converging
    the act of converging (coming closer)
  6. noun
    a place where things merge or flow together (especially rivers)
    synonyms: confluence
    see moresee less
    type of:
    geographic point, geographical point
    a point on the surface of the Earth
Pronunciation
US
/ˈmidɪŋ/
UK
/ˈmitɪŋ/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘meeting'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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