conference
noun
con·fer·ence
| \ ˈkän-f(ə-)rən(t)s
, -fərn(t)s, for sense 2 usually kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s\
, -fərn(t)s, for sense 2 usually kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s\
Definition of conference
1a
: a meeting of two or more persons for discussing matters of common concern
The president is in conference with his advisers.
b
: a usually formal interchange of views : consultation
a conference on climate change
c
: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature to adjust differences
d
: caucus
2
or less commonly conferrence \ kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s
\
: bestowal, conferment
the conference of academic degrees
\
: bestowal, conferment
the conference of academic degrees
3a
: a representative assembly or administrative organization of a religious denomination
b
: a territorial division of a religious denomination
4
: an association of athletic teams
a football conference
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Other Words from conference
conferential
\ ˌkän-fə-ˈren(t)-shəl
\
adjective
\
adjective
Synonyms for conference
Synonyms
assemblage, assembly, congregation, convocation, gathering, ingathering, meeting, muster
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Examples of conference in a Sentence
The organization held its annual conference in New York this year.
national conferences on women's health
a conference of foreign ministers
Our boss called a conference to discuss the new changes.
He spent an hour in conference with the president.
the champions of the American Football Conference
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Recent Examples on the Web
The Super Bowl isn’t always contested by the best team in each conference because our football lives are filled with injuries and upsets and other mysteries of the unknown. — Gary Gramling, SI.com, "Do Not Embrace the Tank, the Patriots Are Not Magical, Who’s Playing in Super Bowl 54," 8 Sep. 2019 Nah’Shon Godfrey, a senior defensive back, was a second-team all-conference pick in 2018. — Pat Stoetzer, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "College Football: McDaniel out to ‘stay steady’ in 2019 season opener," 6 Sep. 2019 Those are the four best teams in the conference in my opinion. — Cameron Teague Robinson, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville football mailbag: Your questions on Jawon Pass, the Cardinals' roster and more, answered," 4 Sep. 2019 Alabama remains an enormous favorite to beat Duke despite so much chaos to the depth chart this week, but SEC play isn’t too far away, and in this conference not even Alabama can absorb the losses of Moses and McMillion without a sense of panic. — Joseph Goodman | [email protected], al, "Alabama will begin the season making compromises," 28 Aug. 2019 But later in the same conference, Trump pointedly declined to confirm that a deal had been reached—leaving the state of the negotiations unclear. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "Macron claims deal to end digital service tax fight with the US," 26 Aug. 2019 Police said in the conference that he was shot in the torso. — Robyn Merrett, PEOPLE.com, "Man Walks into South Carolina Church, Robs It and Shoots Parishioner: Police," 26 Aug. 2019 Seemingly revitalized by the prospects of dropping a fifth to the eleventh-place team in the conference, the Dynamo attack came alive. — Glynn A. Hill, Houston Chronicle, "Dynamo rally to draw against Rapids," 17 Aug. 2019 The team has drawn five games on the road now, tied with New England for the most road draws in the conference. — Julia Poe, Pro Soccer USA, "Three things we learned from Orlando City’s 1-1 draw against Toronto FC," 12 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conference.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for conference
conference
noun
English Language Learners Definition of conference
: a formal meeting in which many people gather in order to talk about ideas or problems related to a particular topic (such as medicine or business) usually for several days
: a formal meeting in which a small number of people talk about something
US
: a group of sports teams that play against each other and that are part of a larger league of teams
See the full definition for conference in the English Language Learners Dictionary
conference
noun
con·fer·ence
| \ ˈkän-fə-rəns
, -frəns\
, -frəns\
Kids Definition of conference
: a meeting for discussion or exchange of opinions
conference
noun
con·fer·ence
| \ ˈkän-frəns, -fə-rəns
\
\
Legal Definition of conference
1
: a meeting for consultation, deliberation, discussion, or interchange of opinions
a conference on environmental law
— see also judicial conference, pretrial conference
2
: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature especially to adjust differences in the provisions of a bill passed in different forms by the two branches
also
: conference committee
3
: caucus