Word.ws English Dictionary

lobby

/ˈlɒb.i/US/ˈlɑ.bi/

lobby noun: an entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor.

lobby: an entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor
Image: Aankan Das, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

lobby (plural lobbies)

  1. An entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor.
    • I had to wait in the lobby for hours before seeing the doctor.
  2. That part of a hall of legislation not appropriated to the official use of the assembly.
  3. A class or group of interested people who try to influence public officials; collectively, lobbyists.
    • Near-synonym: special interest
    • The influence of the tobacco lobby has decreased considerably in the US.
  4. A virtual area where meeting attendees can await admittance from an authorized person.
  5. A virtual area where players can chat and find opponents for a game.
  6. An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.
  7. A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges, trees, or other fencing, near the farmyard.
    • Near-synonyms: cowyard, paddock
    Synonyms:
    cowyard, paddock
  8. A margin along either side of the playing field in the sport of kabaddi.
  9. A waiting area in front of a bank of elevators.
    • Ranger Leslie Thompson, assigned to elevator duty, brought the elevator to the surface about 12:30 to bring down the tourists who were in the lobby of the elevator tower at that time.2005, Charles R. "Butch" Farabee Jr., Death, Daring, and Disaster (page 135)

Verb

lobby (third-person singular simple present lobbies, present participle lobbying, simple past and past participle lobbied)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To attempt to influence (a public official or decision-maker) in favor of a specific opinion or cause.
    • For years, pro-life groups have continued to lobby hard for restrictions on abortion.
    • The corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. They are the government.2002, Jim Hightower, in Wikiquote

Noun (2)

lobby (uncountable)

  1. (West-Midlands) lobscouse
    • My mam cooked us lobby for tea last night.

lobby meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

lobby in Hindi

लॉबी, लाबी

lobby in Tamil

முகப்பறை, முகப்பு அறை, தலைவாயில், புறக்கூடம், புறக்கூட்டம், முகவாயில் அறை

lobby in Marathi

लॉबी, लाॅबी, लाबी

lobby in Urdu

دالان, رواق
More languagesFewer languages
lobby in Bengali
লবি, দালান, উপশালা, প্রবেশকক্ষ
lobby in Telugu
లాబీ, లాబి
lobby in Malayalam
തളം taḷaṁ
lobby in Kannada
ಮೊಗಸಾಲೆ, ಹಜಾರ, ಮುಖಮಂಟಪ, ಪಡಸಾಲೆ
lobby in Punjabi
ਲਾਬੀ, ਲਾੱਬੀ, ਲੌਬੀ
lobby in Gujarati
લોબી, લાબી, લૉબી
lobby in Odia
ଲବି, ଲବି |
lobby in Nepali
लाबी, लोबी
lobby in Arabic
رَدْهَة radha
lobby in Persian
سرسرا sarsarâ
lobby in Vietnamese
hành lang, phòng chờ, phòng đợi, tiền sảnh

Examples of lobby in a sentence

  • Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
  • "We worked very closely with Southeastern to lobby government and stakeholders to increase the timetable.2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45:

All 40 example sentences with lobby

Synonyms of lobby

Forms of lobby

Noun
plurallobbies
Verb
third-person singular presentlobbies
present participlelobbying
past participlelobbied
pastlobbied

Plural of lobby: lobbies

Origin of lobby

From Medieval Latin lobia, lobium, laubia (“a portico, covered way, gallery”), borrowed from Frankish *laubijā (“arbour, shelter”), related to Old English lēaf (“foliage”). More at leaf. Doublet of leaf, lodge, and loggia. Political sense derives from the entrance hall of legislatures, where people traditionally tried to influence legislators because it was the most convenient place to meet them.

Shortened from lobscouse.

Words formed from lobby

Phrases with lobby

Words that rhyme with lobby

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lobby

What does lobby mean?
Lobby means an entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor.
What is lobby in Hindi?
Lobby in Hindi is लॉबी, लाबी. See Lobby meaning in Hindi.
How do you use lobby in a sentence?
Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.
What part of speech is lobby?
Lobby can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce lobby?
Lobby is pronounced /ˈlɒb.i/ (UK).
What is the plural of lobby?
The plural of lobby is lobbies.

Words near lobby in the dictionary

  1. lobbies
  2. lobbies out
  3. lobbies up
  4. lobbing
  5. Lobbs
  6. lobby
  7. lobby card
  8. lobby cards
  9. lobby correspondent
  10. lobby correspondents
  11. lobby fodder

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lobby (page history and authors); lobby (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lobby (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lobby (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lobby (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lobby (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lobby (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); തളം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); lobby (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lobby (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lobby (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lobby (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lobby (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lobby.wav.

Cite this entry: “lobby.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lobby. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.