assembly

American  

[uh-sem-blee] / əˈsɛm bli /

noun

plural

assemblies

1. an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.

   The principal will speak to all the students at Friday's assembly.

   Synonyms:

   meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage

2. a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.

   Synonyms:

   throng, meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage

3. (often initial capital letter) a legislative body, especially the lower house of the legislature in certain states of the U.S..

   a bill before the assembly; the New York State Assembly.

   Synonyms:

   congress

4. Military.

   1. a signal, as by drum or bugle, for troops to fall into ranks or otherwise assemble.

   2. the movement of forces, tanks, soldiers, etc., scattered by battle or battle drill, toward and into a small area.

5. the putting together of complex machinery, as airplanes, from interchangeable parts of standard dimensions.

6. Machinery. a group of machine parts, especially one forming a self-contained, independently mounted unit.

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assembly ¹ British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. a number of people gathered together, esp for a formal meeting held at regular intervals

2. the act of assembling or the state of being assembled

3. the process of putting together a number of parts to make a machine or other product

4. machinery a group of mating components before or after fitting together

5. military

   1. a signal for personnel to assemble, as by drum, bugle, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      an assembly area

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Assembly ² British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly

2. short for General Assembly

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Usage

What does assembly mean? An assembly is a gathering of people, usually for some specific reason, as in The preacher gave a sermon before the assembly. Assembly is used to refer to a group of people who have gathered together. Usually, the people have a reason to come together such as for religious, political, or social purposes.Assembly can also refer to the gathering or coming together of people, as in The principal organized an assembly of all of the parents. Assembly can also refer to a legislative body in which politicians gather to perform the political process. In this case, assembly is often capitalized when it’s a part of the name of the body, as in The bill was discussed by the California State Assembly. Lastly, assembly can refer to the act of putting something together or fitting parts together, as in Jorge helped his granddaughter with the assembly of the model airplane. Assembly comes from the verb assemble, which usually means to gather things or people together, as in The players assembled into a group huddle.Example: The police chief spoke to an assembly of citizens concerned about theft in the neighborhood.

Related Words

See convention.

Other Word Forms

• preassembly noun
• reassembly noun
• self-assembly noun

Etymology

Origin of assembly

1275–1325; Middle English assemblee < Middle French, literally, (that which is) assembled, feminine past participle of assembler to assemble

Example Sentences

Sinn Féin assembly member John O'Dowd said it was a "shocking" incident, particularly for the delivery driver.

From BBC

Next, they identified students who are especially helpful to the large autistic population at Maple and recognized them at an awards assembly.

From Los Angeles Times

And manufacturing in Canada contracted 1.4%, more than countering an increase in December as the automotive sector notched the biggest retreat since September 2021 due to an extended winter shutdown at assembly plants in Ontario.

From The Wall Street Journal

Thick layers of dust smother giant grinding and pressing machines, while only a tiny crew of workers transfer the last batch made three weeks ago off snaking assembly lines and into trucks.

From Barron's

She handed out over a dozen parliamentary jobs to siblings, cousins, in-laws and even her ex-husband Gavidia, the assembly’s union said at the time.

From The Wall Street Journal