| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | secret meeting |
| Synonyms: | assembly, buzz session, cabinet, confab, conference, council, encounter, gathering, get-together, huddle, meet, parley, powwow, private meeting, session |
| Main Entry: | board |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group of advisers |
| Synonyms: | advisers, advisory group, brass, cabinet, committee, conclave, council, directorate, directors, execs, executive suite, executives, front office, jury, panel, trustees, upstairs |
| Notes: | a board is a committee having supervisory powers, a plank, or food served to lodgers - while bored is tired of the world a plank is thicker than a board |
| Antonyms: | individual, one |
| Main Entry: | caucus |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group gathered to make decision |
| Synonyms: | assembly, conclave, convention, council, gathering, get-together, meeting, parley, session |
| Main Entry: | clergy |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | ministry of church |
| Synonyms: | canonicate, canonry, cardinalate, churchpersons, clerics, conclave, deaconry, diaconate, ecclesiastics, first estate, holy order, pastorate, prelacy, priesthood, rabbinate, the cloth, the desk, the pulpit |
| Notes: | clergy first meant 'learning, scholarship' and clerk had the original meaning 'man ordained to the Christian ministry' |
| Main Entry: | congress |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | delegation of representatives |
| Synonyms: | assembly, association, caucus, chamber, club, committee, conclave, conference, convention, convocation, council, delegates, government, guild, league, legislative body, legislature, meeting, order, parliament, senate, society, the Hill, the house, union |
| Main Entry: | convocation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | assembly |
| Synonyms: | assemblage, conclave, concourse, confab, conference, congregation, congress, convention, council, diet, get-together, meet, meeting, powwow, synod, turnout |
| Main Entry: | council |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | people assembled for purpose |
| Synonyms: | assembly, board, body, brain trust, cabinet, chamber, clan, committee, conclave, confab, conference, congregation, congress, convention, convocation, diet, directorate, gang, gathering, governing body, groupthink, huddle, kitchen cabinet, meet, ministry, mob, official family, outfit, panel, parliament, powwow, ring, senate, synod |
| Notes: | counsel is 'advice, guidance' and a counsel is a lawyer; a council is a deliberative body of people assembled for some purpose and members are councillors (especially in Britain) |
| Main Entry: | faction |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group sharing a belief or cause |
| Synonyms: | band, bloc, bunch, cabal, camp, caucus, cell, circle, clan, clique, club, coalition, combination, combine, combo, concern, conclave, confederacy, conspiracy, contingent, coterie, crew, crowd, design, division, entente, gang, guild, insiders, intrigue, junta, knot, lobby, machine, minority, mob, network, offshoot, outfit, partnership, party, pressure group, ring, schism, sect, section, sector, set, side, splinter group, team, unit, wing |
| Notes: | a faction is a group of people forming a cohesive, usually contentious, minority from within a larger group; a fraction is a small part or item of something forming a piece of a whole |
| Antonyms: | entirety, total, whole |
| Main Entry: | forum |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | meeting |
| Synonyms: | assembly, colloquium, conclave, conference, congregation, congress, convention, convocation, council, gathering, get-together, rally, seminar, symposium |