I. ˈkäŋgrə̇s also ˈkȯŋ-, chiefly in substand speech -ŋr- noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin congressus, from congressus, past participle of congredi to go or come together, from com- + gradi to step, go — more at grade
1.
a. : the act or action of coming together : a meeting especially of persons or mind
he was generally to be found in intellectual congress with Keyserling — Newsweek
b. : sexual intercourse , coition
2. : a meeting of heads of states or their foreign ministers, ambassadors, or envoys for discussion and adjustment of international problems or affairs
the Congress of Vienna
parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests — Edmund Burke
3. : the supreme legislative body of a nation and especially of a republic
in form at least the congresses of So. American nations resemble our own
the Congress of the U.S.
4. : an organization designed to promote some object of common interest to its membership and usually made up of delegates from a group of constituent organizations : association
the Massachusetts Congress of Parents and Teachers, Incorporated
the Congress for Cultural Freedom
the Canada Trades and Labor Congress
5. : a particular meeting of a group (as a national legislature or cultural association) : a session or single sitting of an organization
the Seventy-first Congress was dominantly Republican — H.R.Penniman
his committee … has over 3000 bills per Congress referred to it — Publishers' Weekly
the Social Democratic party's congress was held in June
6. : a coming together or meeting of persons
the rupture of the disciplined silence sent an uneasy stir among the exhausted congress of soldiers — Jack Belden
a congress of goons and thugs — S.H.Holbrook
7. : a seasonal assemblage of amphibians (as certain toads and frogs) for breeding purposes
II. kənˈgres intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
: to come together : assemble