Meaning of party in English

party

noun

/ˈpɑː.ti/ us

/ˈpɑːr.t̬i/

party noun (CELEBRATION)

a social event at which a group of people meet to talk, eat, drink, dance, etc., often in order to celebrate a special occasion:

a birthday party

a farewell party

a dinner party (= a small, sometimes formal party where a meal is eaten)

UK a fancy-dress (US costume) party (= a party where people wear clothes that make them look like someone or something else)

Peter has/gives/throws really wild parties.

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He said he had to be at his cousin's engagement party that evening.
Who was she dancing with at the party last night?
They decorated the room with balloons and streamers ready for the party.
We're having a small drinks party for one of our colleagues who's leaving next week.
I really enjoyed your party - it was such good fun.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Celebrations, parties & special occasions

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party noun (POLITICAL GROUP)

B1 [ C, + sing/pl verb ]

an organization of people with particular political beliefs that competes in elections to try to win positions in local or national government:

the Democratic Party

the Green party

UK the Conservative party

The party have just elected a new leader.

He was elected as party leader in 2011.

They contacted party members from across the nation to ask for their support.

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There are signs of dissension within the ruling political party.
A publicly disunited party stands little chance of winning the election.
The party that was elected to power has no experience of government.
There are two political parties in the US - the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
The committee's job is to ensure fair play between all the political parties and candidates during the election.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Organizations, Societies & clubs

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Politics - general words

party noun (VISITING GROUP)

[ C, + sing/pl verb ]

a group of people who are involved in an activity together, especially a visit:

a party of tourists

Most museums give a discount to school parties.

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The museum was almost empty apart from a party of schoolchildren.
We're taking a party of Japanese visitors on a tour of the city.
A party of tourists were approaching the war memorial.
There's a special education room set aside for school parties.
Every day this once peaceful village is invaded by coach parties.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Groups of people

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party noun (INVOLVEMENT)

[ C ]

one of the people or groups of people involved in an official argument, arrangement, or similar situation:

The UN called on all parties in the conflict to take a positive stance towards the new peace initiative.

It's often difficult to establish who the guilty party is following a traffic accident.

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Paula really is the innocent party in all this, it was John that had the affair.
An information meeting for all interested parties will be held on 10 November.
The contract could be terminated by either party at any time.
Mr Jackson was considered the injured party and awarded damages of over £5000.
The court's decision did not satisfy either party.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Taking part and getting involved

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

People in general

Idioms

be (a) party to something

bring something to the party

party

verb [ I ]

/ˈpɑː.ti/ us

/ˈpɑːr.t̬i/

to enjoy yourself by drinking and dancing, especially at a party:

Let's party!

They partied till dawn.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Celebrating & entertaining

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(Definition of party from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

party | American Dictionary

party

noun [ C ]

/ˈpɑr·t̬i/

party noun [C] (SOCIAL GATHERING)

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a social gathering at which people talk, eat, drink, and enjoy themselves:

a birthday party

Sally is having a party at her place tonight.

party noun [C] (POLITICAL GROUP)

social studies

a political group with particular beliefs and aims and which supports members who are trying to get elected to public office:

the Democratic/Republican Party

a political party

party noun [C] (PARTICULAR GROUP)

a particular group of people who are involved in an activity:

I made a dinner reservation for a party of eight.

party noun [C] (ONE INVOLVED)

one of the people or sides involved in a formal agreement or argument, esp. a legal one:

The UN called on all parties to lay down their arms.

party

verb [ I ]

infml

/ˈpɑr·t̬i/

party verb [I] (SOCIAL GATHERING)

to enjoy yourself at a party with others, esp. by drinking alcohol, dancing, etc.

(Definition of party from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

party | Business English

party

noun

/ˈpɑːti/ us

plural parties

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C ]

one of the people or groups of people involved in an official disagreement, arrangement, or similar situation:

Both parties were happy with the result of the negotiations.

[ C ]

a group of people who are involved in an activity together, especially a visit:

A party of college students is visiting the factory today.

Our restaurants offer a discount of 10% to parties of 10 or more.

There will be 8 people in our party, so we'll need to book a table.

[ C ]

a social event where a group of people meet to talk, eat, etc., often in order to celebrate a special occasion:

We're having a farewell party for the sales manager.

have/throw/give a party They're going to throw a party to celebrate a great year.

[ C ] POLITICS

an organization of people with particular political beliefs which competes in elections for positions in local or national government:

a political party

the governing/ruling/opposition party

the Democratic/Green/Conservative Party

He was elected as party leader in 2011.

See also

charter party
concert party
interested party
non-party
related party
third party
working party

(Definition of party from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of party

party

The nature and magnitude of the problem-determined through a systematic risk assessment process-needs to be determined and openly communicated to all relevant parties.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There were certain reform policies that all progressive parties could agree upon.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Only interested parties who have a large material stake in it need to pretend that it is one indivisible entity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Both the problems and the proposed solutions of the parties were addressed to specific, practical needs of the moment.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Attached parties are joined at particular points, which include the face and voice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The review should be conducted fairly for all relevant parties.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The basic assumption being made in this study is that parties have a major rôle to play in democratic governance.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The process is, however, self-destructive to the parties locked in dispute.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

To some degree the impartiality has depended on there being a large measure of policy agreement and continuity between the parties in government.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With 36 per cent of the manual workers' vote in 1987 the party's share of the working-class vote was the highest for any post-war election.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition to generating a mistrust of politics and political parties, this had another effect- the rise of the bureaucrat.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

What to do with parties once they have lost their principles and therefore their respectability?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Political parties and democracy: the core of the political problem is always the same.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Competition between the parties was, however, somewhat less than in previous years.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Have both the parties acted in good faith?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of party

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with party

party

These are words often used in combination with party.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

affected party

However halting, the emergence of politically powerful unions dramatically affected party politics and generated new questions about political finance.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

aggrieved party

The aggrieved party subsequently filed the case twice more at the high court.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

all-night party

When my constituents complain about an all-night party, it is perceived as a complaint on racial grounds rather than on noise grounds, and frequently it is not.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

See all collocations with party

What is the pronunciation of party?

A1,B1

Translations of party

in Chinese (Traditional)

慶祝, 社交聚會, 政黨…

Meaning of party in English

party noun (CELEBRATION)

party noun (POLITICAL GROUP)

party noun (VISITING GROUP)

party noun (INVOLVEMENT)

Idioms

party | American Dictionary

party noun [C] (SOCIAL GATHERING)

party noun [C] (POLITICAL GROUP)

party noun [C] (PARTICULAR GROUP)

party noun [C] (ONE INVOLVED)

party verb [I] (SOCIAL GATHERING)

party | Business English

Examples of party

Collocations with party

party

Translations of party

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