electoral college

noun

variants or Electoral College
plural electoral colleges or Electoral Colleges
: a body of electors
Voting has now closed in the parliamentary party vote, which means all three electoral colleges have finished voting.Hugh Linehan and Harry McGee
He chairs the electoral college of the Culinary Institute of America's Vintners Hall of Fame …Cy Musiker
especially, usually Electoral College : one that elects the president and vice president of the U.S.
If the Electoral College did end up tied, the Constitution dictates that it's the incoming Congress who breaks the stalemate, with the House of Representatives determining the president—but instead of voting as 435 individual members, each state votes as a single bloc. Trevor Bach
In the electoral college, Roosevelt buried Wilkie 449 to 82. Mary Beth Norton et al.

Examples of electoral college in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Pence had faced pressure from Trump to use his constitutional role presiding over the counting of electoral college votes to try to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 May 2025 Despite Harris winning Minnesota’s 10 electoral college votes on Nov. 5, Trump claimed 62% of votes in Stearns County. Trent Abrego, Twin Cities, 15 Jan. 2025 This left Tilden just one electoral college vote short of victory. Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2025 What was once a perfunctory duty of Congress — certifying the electoral college votes from all states — became an international debacle in 2021, when people upset about Trump’s reelection defeat in 2020 forced their way into the Capitol to disrupt the process. Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for electoral college

Word History

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of electoral college was in 1677

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Cite this Entry

“Electoral college.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electoral%20college. Accessed 17 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

electoral college

noun
: a body of electors
especially : one that elects the president and vice president of the U.S.

Legal Definition

electoral college

noun
elec·​tor·​al college
often capitalized E&C
: a body of electors
specifically : the body of electors chosen from each state to elect the president and vice president of the U.S.

Note: Under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, each state chooses electors in the same number that the state has senators and representatives. In all the states except Maine and Nebraska, the candidate that wins a plurality of the popular votes wins all of the state's electoral votes.

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