ses ‧ sion S2 W2 /ˈseʃ ə n/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin sessio 'act of sitting, session' , from sedere 'to sit' ]
1 . a period of time used for a particular activity, especially by a group of people:
a training session for teachers about computers
question-and-answer sessions
session of
a session of group therapy
⇨ ↑ jam session
2 . a formal meeting or group of meetings, especially of a law court or parliament
session of
the first televised session of parliament
in session (=meeting)
The court is now in session.
Board members met in closed session (=with nobody else present) .
3 . American English a part of the year when classes are given at a college or university ⇨ semester
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + session
▪ a training session
Every training session starts with a series of exercises.
▪ a practice session
He crashed during a practice session before this Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
▪ a question-and-answer session (=when people ask a speaker questions)
His talk was followed by a question and answer session.
▪ a photo session (=when someone is photographed for a magazine etc)
I normally have two or three photo sessions a week.
▪ a therapy/counselling session (=when someone is given personal advice)
At one point his parents joined him for a family therapy session.
▪ a brainstorming session (=when people think up new ideas)
I think we should just get together and have a brainstorming session.
■ verbs
▪ have a session
We had a special training session yesterday.
▪ do a session informal
We're doing a photo session tomorrow.
▪ attend a session formal
Some doctors require patients to attend counselling sessions.