GOVERNMENT | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

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Meaning of government in English governmentnoun uk /ˈɡʌv.ə.mənt/ /ˈɡʌv.ən.mənt/ us /ˈɡʌv.ɚn.mənt/

government noun (GROUP)

Add to word list Add to word list B1 [ C, + sing/pl verb ] (written abbreviation govt) the group of people who officially control a country: the government of Israel The government is/are expected to announce its/their tax proposals today. The minister has announced that there will be no change in government policy. Senior government officials will be attending a meeting tomorrow. Theatre companies are very concerned about cuts in government grants to the arts. A government enquiry has been launched.
  • The government is spending millions of dollars in its attempt to combat drug abuse.
  • Unlike the present government, we believe in serving the community.
  • The opposition party have been in such disorder for so long that they pose no real threat to the present government.
  • The people rebelled against the harsh new government.
  • The government has said that it will not be intimidated by terrorist threats.
Ruling & governing
  • administration
  • affairs of state
  • ascend
  • ascend the throne idiom
  • bipartisanship
  • governmentally
  • governorate
  • hard Brexit idiom
  • Holyrood
  • hung parliament
  • oppression
  • oppressively
  • oppressiveness
  • overgovern
  • Parliament of Scotland
  • statesmanship
  • subgovernment
  • subjection
  • subjugate
  • subjugation
See more results »

government noun (SYSTEM)

B2 [ U ] the system used for controlling a country, city, or group of people: The 1990s saw a shift to democratic government in Eastern Europe. What this state needs is really strong government. B2 [ U ] the activities involved in controlling a country, city, group of people, etc.: The party that was elected to power has no experience of government.in government UK The party was in government (= controlled the country) for four years in the 1960s. Her/His Majesty's Government the government of the UK: This is the decision of Her Majesty's Government. See more Systems of government
  • absolutism
  • advanced capitalism
  • ancien régime
  • anti-apartheid
  • anti-communism
  • democratic centralism
  • democratically
  • democratization
  • democratize
  • despotic
  • kakistocracy
  • kleptocracy
  • kleptocratic
  • liberal democracy
  • majority rule
  • plutocracy
  • plutocratic
  • police state
  • post-apartheid
  • post-capitalist
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Ruling & governing

Idiom

close enough for government work (Definition of government from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

government | American Dictionary

governmentnoun [ C/U ] us /ˈɡʌv·ərn·mənt, -ər·mənt/ Add to word list Add to word list politics & government the offices, departments, and groups of people that control a country, state, city, or other political unit: [ U ] She works for the government. [ C ] The new tax law affects the budgets of both state and local governments. Government is also a particular system of managing a country, state, city, etc.: [ U ] democratic government

governmental

adjective us /ˌɡʌv·ərnˈment·əl, -ərˈment·əl/ The country has weak governmental institutions and no experience of democracy. (Definition of government from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

government | Business English

governmentnoun   GOVERNMENT uk /ˈɡʌvənmənt/ us (written abbreviation govt) Add to word list Add to word list [ C ] an organization that officially manages and controls a country or region, creating laws, collecting taxes, providing public services, etc.: The two governments have signed an agreement. This fiscal year would mark the third government surplus in a row for the first time in over 50 years. a federal/central/local/governmentgovernment official/regulator/employee Global business leaders and government officials gathered in Spain Friday for a meeting aimed at breaking down remaining trade barriers.government agency/department Some government agencies have worked well together to combat terrorist financing. government policy/program/services the Chinese/Italian/British government The Chinese government has implemented economic reforms. [ U ] the people, systems, etc. that manage or control a country or region: The goal is to identify opportunities to reduce the cost of government. a democratic form of government. The President spoke of restoring confidence in government. form a government to bring political parties together to make a government when none of them has received a large enough number of votes in an election to control the government: The former prime minister was seeking support from smaller parties to help form a government. the government [ S ] the government of a particular country, especially the country you are in or the one you have already referred to: The government is proposing changes to subsidies for renewable energy sources. The figures are based on the government's survey of the labor force. (Definition of government from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of government

government State and local governments also have considerable regulatory authority over granting siting permits necessary for the operation of many types of facilities. From the Cambridge English Corpus As a supplementary policy, the government permitted pricing based on costs for new health services, mainly high-technology services. From the Cambridge English Corpus If there is a government policy that allows the decentralized economy to achieve the constrained planner's allocation, then it is the optimal policy choice. From the Cambridge English Corpus In theory, village development plans flow up through district and regional development committees to the central government. From the Cambridge English Corpus The government needed professional and politically-minded staff to take on the planned political development of the country over the long haul. From the Cambridge English Corpus Efforts to calculate the level of price support for rice required the government to elicit cost of production data from the agricultural associations. From the Cambridge English Corpus Considered here is the simplest case, where government spending is purely dissipative and does not affect private utility. From the Cambridge English Corpus In this early period, the government did not intervene in such activities as long as they retained a purely philanthropic goal. From the Cambridge English Corpus Researchers could be misled by the publications of the first category because they were usually censored by the government to fit its propaganda purposes. From the Cambridge English Corpus In the 1920s, the school was eager to distinguish itself from the government schools as a means of attracting more pupils. From the Cambridge English Corpus It was first returned because it had been drafted by counsel; government could only be addressed by principals, not their agents. From the Cambridge English Corpus The government's objective function depends on whether it recognizes returns to all land, both cultivated and common, or returns only to common land. From the Cambridge English Corpus The government has been reducing home-help services and experimenting with privatisation. From the Cambridge English Corpus However, from the mid 1980s the government further reduced the municipal elbowroom. From the Cambridge English Corpus This tendency was reinforced in 1939 when the government declared the gas supply a state-owned public monopoly. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of government These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with government

government

These are words often used in combination with government.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

authoritarian governmentThe percentage of those that would accept an authoritarian government ' under certain circumstances ' has decreased. From the Cambridge English Corpus autocratic governmentHe argues that, in the early times an autocratic government committed to economic development had a 'minimalist' approach to social policy. From the Cambridge English Corpus centralized governmentNor can a centralized government do all of the above by itself! From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with government What is the pronunciation of government?

Translations of government

in Chinese (Traditional) 團體, 政府，內閣, 體制… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 团体, 政府，内阁, 体制… See more in Spanish gobierno, gobierno [masculine]… See more in Portuguese governo, governo [masculine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian एखाद्या देशावर अधिकृतपणे नियंत्रण ठेवणारा लोकांचा गट, सरकार, शासन… See more 政府, 政治体制, 政府（せいふ）… See more hükümet, yönetme, yönetim… See more gouvernement [masculine], administration [feminine], gouvernement… See more govern… See more regering, regime, bestuur… See more ஒரு நாட்டை அதிகாரப்பூர்வமாக கட்டுப்படுத்தும் மக்கள் குழு, ஒரு நாடு, நகரம் அல்லது மக்கள் குழுவைக் கட்டுப்படுத்த பயன்படும் அமைப்பு… See more (किसी देश की) सरकार, (राष्ट्र, नगर… See more સરકાર, સરકાર (રાષ્ટ્ર, શહેર… See more regering, styre, regere… See more regering, styrelsesätt, regeringsform… See more kerajaan, sistem pemerintahan… See more die Regierung, die Regierungsform… See more regjering [masculine], stat [masculine], statsledelse [masculine]… See more حکومت, سرکار, حکومت کرنے کا عمل… See more уряд, правління, урядування… See more ప్రభుత్వం, దేశాన్ని అధికారికంగా నియంత్రించే వ్యక్తుల సమూహం, ప్రభుత్వం/ దేశం… See more সরকার, সরকারি কাজকর্ম, একটি দেশ… See more vláda, panování, správa… See more pemerintah, pemerintahan, administrasi… See more รัฐบาล, การปกครอง, ระบบการปกครอง… See more chính quyền, cách thức hoặc hệ thống lãnh đạo, việc hoặc quá trình cai trị… See more rząd, rządy, ustrój… See more 정부, 체제… See more governo, amministrazione… See more Need a translator?

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governessy governing governing body governing principle government Government Accountability Office government bailout government bond government borrowing {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of government

  • big government
  • in government
  • non-government
  • anti-government
  • government bond
  • government debt
  • government loan
See all meanings
  • Her/His Majesty's Government phrase
  • close enough for government work idiom
  • good enough for government work, at close enough for government work idiom
See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

go together

UK /ɡəʊ/ US /ɡoʊ/

to look good together

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  • English   
    • Noun 
      • government (GROUP)
      • government (SYSTEM)
      • Her/His Majesty's Government
  • American   
    • Noun 
      • government
    • Adjective 
      • governmental
  • Business   
    • Noun 
      • government
      • form a government
      • the government
  • Examples
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