conference
noun
con·fer·ence
ˈkän-f(ə-)rən(t)s 
-fərn(t)s,
for sense 2 usually kən-ˈfər-ən(t)s
1
a
: 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
: bestowal, conferment
the conference of academic degrees
3
a
: 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
Synonyms
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
Recent Examples on the Web
Fort Lauderdale commissioners will discuss the fate of the city’s Citizens’ Police Review Board at a May 21 commission conference, City Attorney Thomas J. Ansbro wrote Monday in a memorandum to the board that was shared with the Miami Herald.
—
Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2024
Online court records were not updated Monday afternoon with information on how Jones pleaded at an initial hearing in the case Monday, but a pretrial conference in the case is set for July 3.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Apr. 2024
The women’s indoor volleyball team went 30-5, had a 25-game win streak, was conference champions, finished No. 17 in the NAIA rankings, qualified for the national tournament for the first time and won a first-round game.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Apr. 2024
In an interview Sunday with CNBC at a WEF conference in Saudi Arabia, Borge Brende warned overall debt is approaching the world’s total economic output.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2024
And just shy of his fourth anniversary in the job, he was voted out by the full House Republican conference in December 1998.
—Ron Elving, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
When the round ended four hours later, the conference had claimed eight of the 32 selections, one shy of its record (set in 2015).
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024
Existing regions outside the United States — known as central conferences — already have the flexibility to adapt church rules to their local contexts, but the jurisdictions in the United States do not.
—CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) has unveiled programming for its third annual conference.
—Taylor Mims, Billboard, 18 Apr. 2024
Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2024
Online court records were not updated Monday afternoon with information on how Jones pleaded at an initial hearing in the case Monday, but a pretrial conference in the case is set for July 3.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Apr. 2024
The women’s indoor volleyball team went 30-5, had a 25-game win streak, was conference champions, finished No. 17 in the NAIA rankings, qualified for the national tournament for the first time and won a first-round game.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Apr. 2024
In an interview Sunday with CNBC at a WEF conference in Saudi Arabia, Borge Brende warned overall debt is approaching the world’s total economic output.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2024
And just shy of his fourth anniversary in the job, he was voted out by the full House Republican conference in December 1998.
—Ron Elving, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
When the round ended four hours later, the conference had claimed eight of the 32 selections, one shy of its record (set in 2015).
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024
Existing regions outside the United States — known as central conferences — already have the flexibility to adapt church rules to their local contexts, but the jurisdictions in the United States do not.
—CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) has unveiled programming for its third annual conference.
—Taylor Mims, Billboard, 18 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conference.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near conference
Cite this Entry
“Conference.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conference. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
conference
noun
con·fer·ence
ˈkän-f(ə-)rən(t)s
-fərn(t)s
1
: a meeting for discussion or exchange of opinions
also
: the discussion itself
2
: a meeting of members of the two branches of a legislature to settle differences
3
: an association of athletic teams
a football conference
Legal Definition
conference
noun
con·fer·ence
ˈkän-frəns, -fə-rəns
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
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