lobby

  • noun (pl. lobbies) 1 a room out of which one or more other rooms or corridors lead, typically forming a small entrance hall. 2 (in the UK) any of several large halls in the Houses of Parliament in which MPs meet members of the public. 3 (also division lobby) each of two corridors in the Houses of Parliament to which MPs retire to vote. 4 a group of people seeking to influence legislators on a particular issue. 5 an organized attempt by members of the public to influence legislators.

  • verb (lobbies, lobbied) seek to influence (a legislator).

  — DERIVATIVES lobbyist noun.

  — ORIGIN originally in the sense monastic cloister: from Latin lobia ‘covered walk’.

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