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
The next tiebreaker would be conference record, and the Heat has a 1 ½ game edge there.
—
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
The court scheduled a case management conference on Sept. 10.
—Cameron MacDonald, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
At a San Sebastian Festival EU conference , Beta Group head Jan Mojto explained that Beta had bought or bought into companies around Europe, according to just how ambitious their producers were.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
At a parent-teacher conference, condolences are delivered to Toni, but the camera rests on the bereaved Dita’s face, unable to openly grieve the loss of her longtime partner.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
During conference panels, interviews and earnings report calls, most AI company executives shrug off concerns about job losses.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Online courses, workshops and industry conferences offer valuable opportunities to deepen your technological fluency and stay abreast of emerging trends.
—Sonia Singh, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2024
Addressing a business conference at Stanford University, Powell touted progress in the fight to cool price increases while acknowledging that such headway had stalled in recent months.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
At the news conference, Gutiérrez urged authorities to investigate the incident.
—Emi Tuyetnhi Tran, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
The court scheduled a case management conference on Sept. 10.
—Cameron MacDonald, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
At a San Sebastian Festival EU conference , Beta Group head Jan Mojto explained that Beta had bought or bought into companies around Europe, according to just how ambitious their producers were.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
At a parent-teacher conference, condolences are delivered to Toni, but the camera rests on the bereaved Dita’s face, unable to openly grieve the loss of her longtime partner.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
During conference panels, interviews and earnings report calls, most AI company executives shrug off concerns about job losses.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Online courses, workshops and industry conferences offer valuable opportunities to deepen your technological fluency and stay abreast of emerging trends.
—Sonia Singh, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2024
Addressing a business conference at Stanford University, Powell touted progress in the fight to cool price increases while acknowledging that such headway had stalled in recent months.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
At the news conference, Gutiérrez urged authorities to investigate the incident.
—Emi Tuyetnhi Tran, NBC News, 3 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 16 Apr. 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share