CONGRESSING
Verb
congressing
present participle of congress
Source: Wiktionary
CONGRESS
Con"gress, n.; pl. Congresses. Etym: [L. congressus, fr. congredi,
p.p. -gressus, to go or come together; con- + grati to go or step,
gradus step: cf. F. congr. See Grade.]
1. A meeting of individuals, whether friendly or hostile; an
encounter. [Obs.]
Here Pallas urges on, and Lausus there;congress in the field great
Jove withstands. Dryden.
2. A sudden encounter; a collision; a shock; -- said of things.
[Obs.]
From these laws may be deduced the rules of the congresses and
reflections of two bodies. Cheyne.
3. The coming together of a male and female in sexual commerce; the
act of coition. Pennant.
4. A gathering or assembly; a conference.
5. A formal assembly, as of princes, deputies, representatives,
envoys, or commissioners; esp., a meeting of the representatives of
several governments or societies to consider and determine matters of
common interest.
The European powers strove to . . . accommodate their differences at
the congress of Vienna. Alison.
6. The collective body of senators and representatives of the people
of a nation, esp. of a republic, constituting the chief legislative
body of the nation.
Note: In the Congress of the United States (which took the place of
the Federal Congress, March 4, 1789), the Senate consists of two
Senators from each State, chosen by the State legislature for a term
of six years, in such a way that the terms of one third of the whole
number expire every year; the House of Representatives consists of
members elected by the people of the several Congressional districts,
for a term of two years, the term of all ending at the same time. The
united body of Senators and Representatives for any term of two years
for which the whole body of Representatives is chosen is called one
Congress. Thus the session which began in December, 1887, was the
first (or long) session, and that which began in December, 1888, was
the second (or short) session, of the Fiftieth Congress. When an
extra session is had before the date of the first regular meeting of
a Congress, that is called the first session, and the following
regular session is called the second session.
7. The lower house of the Spanish Cortes, the members of which are
elected for three years. The Continental Congress, an assembly of
deputies from the thirteen British colonies in America, appointed to
deliberate in respect to their common interests. They first met in
1774, and from time thereafter until near the close of the
Revolution.
– The Federal Congress, the assembly of representatives of the
original States of the American Union, who met under the Articles of
Confederation from 1781 till 1789.
– Congress boot or gaiter, a high shoe or half-boot, coming above
the ankle, and having the sides made in part of some elastic material
which stretches to allow the boot to be drawn on and off. [U.S.] --
Congress water, a saline mineral water from the Congress spring at
Saratoga, in the State of New York.
Syn.
– Assembly; meeting; convention; convocation; council; diet;
conclave; parliament; legislature.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition