LOBBY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Lobby

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/lˈɑbi/ Listen

noun

Lobby n. (pl. lobbies)

(Arch.) A passage or hall of communication, especially when large enough to serve also as a waiting room. It differs from an antechamber in that a lobby communicates between several rooms, an antechamber to one only; but this distinction is not carefully preserved.

That part of a hall of legislation not appropriated to the official use of the assembly; hence, the persons, collectively, who frequent such a place to transact business with the legislators; hence: Any persons, not members of a legislative body, who strive to influence its proceedings by personal agency; a group of lobbyists for a particular cause; as, the drug industry lobby. (U. S.)

(Naut.) An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.

(Agric.) A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges. trees, or other fencing, near the farmyard.

Lobby member, a lobbyist. (Humorous cant, U. S.)

verb

Lobby v. t. To urge the adoption or passage of by soliciting members of a legislative body; as, to lobby a bill; also used with the legislators as object; as, to lobby the state legislatuire for protection. (U.S.)

Lobby v. i. (past & past part. lobbied; pres. part. lobbying) To address or solicit members of a legislative body in the lobby or elsewhere, with the purpose to influence their votes; in an extended sense, to try to influence decision-makers in any circumstance. (U.S.)

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Etymology of 'Lobby'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Lobby" Quotes from Famous Books

... of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, which is vulnerable to harsh climatic conditions. Cotton is the key crop and the government has joined with other cotton producing countries in the region to lobby for improved access to Western markets. GDP growth has largely been driven by increases in world cotton prices. Industry remains dominated by unprofitable government-controlled corporations. Following the African franc currency ...

— The 2005 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... in the shade, Most gentle of all houris; Bright Carry in the lobby played With a pair ...

— Fringilla: Some Tales In Verse • Richard Doddridge Blackmore

... among that class of corporations that sought knowledge of the law and not opinions as to how it might be corrupted. They came to him to carry their cases through the courts, and not through the legislatures via the lobby. Therefore, he was not what is commonly called a corporation lawyer. He never drew bills designed to conceal franchise grabs or tax evasions, or crooked contracts with dummies in subsidiary corporations organized to bleed a mother concern of its profits. Some laws not on the books governed him in ...

— Cupid's Middleman • Edward B. Lent

... rubbed a speck off one of his finger nails and glanced sidewise at a tall man in a white hat sitting in the lobby. That man came over and asked me politely if I had seen the shrubbery at the west entrance. I had not, so he showed it to me and ...

— Sixes and Sevens • O. Henry

... year. This tempting bait was supplemented by influences brought to bear upon the venal section of the press and of the legislature. A proposal for the necessary constitutional change was vetoed by Governor Nicholls. Having pushed their bill once more through the House, the lottery lobby contended that a proposal for a constitutional amendment did not require the governor's signature, but only to be submitted to the people, a position which was affirmed by the State Supreme Court. A fierce battle followed in the State, the "anti" Democrats ...

— History of the United States, Volume 5 • E. Benjamin Andrews

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