LOBBY
What does "LOBBY" mean?
An entrance hall or waiting area in a building; also, to try to influence lawmakers on an issue.
Meanings
- An entrance hall, foyer, or anteroom of a public building. We agreed to meet in the hotel lobby at noon.
- To seek to influence legislators or officials on behalf of a cause or interest. Farmers lobbied the government for higher crop subsidies.
- A group of people who seek to influence policy on a particular issue. The gun lobby spent millions opposing the bill.
Did you know?
- To 'lobby' a politician literally means to corner them in the lobby - the entrance hall where petitioners once waited to catch lawmakers coming and going.
Word origin
From Medieval Latin 'lobia' (covered walk, portico), of Germanic origin; the political sense arose from petitioners who gathered in the lobbies of legislative buildings to buttonhole lawmakers.
Remember it
LOBBY = the place you LOB (toss) your requests at people passing through the entrance hall.
A little poem
Marble floor, a coat-check, idle chairs-
between the door and the deciding stairs,
everyone is waiting to be heard.
tercet
Wordplay
- The lobbyist loved hotels - finally, a lobby where nobody expected him to change any laws.
What it teaches
Power is often won not in the chamber but in the hallway, by whoever bothers to wait there.
Quick facts
What does LOBBY mean?
An entrance hall or waiting area in a building; also, to try to influence lawmakers on an issue.
Is LOBBY a valid word?
Yes — LOBBY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is LOBBY?
LOBBY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does LOBBY come from?
From Medieval Latin 'lobia' (covered walk, portico), of Germanic origin; the political sense arose from petitioners who gathered in the lobbies of legislative buildings to buttonhole lawmakers.
What can LOBBY teach us?
Power is often won not in the chamber but in the hallway, by whoever bothers to wait there.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.