lobby

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒb.i/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɒbi
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ.bi/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔb.i/

From Old French *lobie, from Medieval Latin lobium, lobia, laubia (“a portico, covered way, gallery”), borrowed from Frankish *laubijā (“arbour, shelter”).

Related to Old English lēaf (“foliage”). More at leaf. Doublet of 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.

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. (politics) A class or group of interested people who try to influence public officials; collectively, lobbyists.

   The influence of the tobacco lobby has decreased considerably in the US.

4. (video games) A virtual area where players can chat and find opponents for a game.
5. (nautical) An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.
6. A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges, trees, or other fencing, near the farmyard.
7. A margin along either side of the playing field in the sport of kabaddi.
8. A waiting area in front of a bank of elevators.
   • 2005, Charles R. "Butch" Farabee Jr., Death, Daring, and Disaster (page 135)

     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.

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.

   • 2002, Jim Hightower, in Wikiquote

     The corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. They are the government.

   • 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):

     Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Yeah, it's not a big deal. I lobbied for fuel-cell technology on Capitol Hill. I'm friends with Sandy Bullock, really good friends. Who cares? It's not a pissing contest, right, J?

   • 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.

   • 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45:

     "We're still at only 80% [of pre-pandemic passenger numbers], but it's great news that Southeastern put some more trains in the timetable from December," Perry explains. "We worked very closely with Southeastern to lobby government and stakeholders to increase the timetable.

• lobbying
• lobbyist

Shortened from lobscouse.

lobby (uncountable)

1. (West Midlands) lobscouse

   My mam cooked us lobby for tea last night.

• “lobby”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “lobby”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “lobby”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Borrowed from English lobby.

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.bi/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

lobby m (plural lobbies)

1. lobby (hall)
2. lobby (advocacy group)

   Synonym: groupe de pression

• “lobby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔb.bi/
• Rhymes: -ɔbbi
• Hyphenation: lòb‧by

lobby f (invariable)

1. lobby (group of people; hall of a bank)

• lobbista

• lobby in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Unadapted borrowing from English lobby. Doublet of lodżia, loggia, and loża.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔb.bɨ/, /ˈlɔb.bi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbbɨ, -ɔbbi
• Syllabification: lob‧by

lobby n (indeclinable)

1. (politics) lobby (group of people who try to lobby)

• lobby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lobby in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.

lobby m (plural lobbies)

1. Alternative spelling of lóbi

Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.

lobby n (uncountable)

1. lobby

• lobi

Unadapted borrowing from English lobby. Doublet of lonja.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlobi/ [ˈlo.β̞i]
• Rhymes: -obi

lobby m (plural lobbies)[1]

1. lobby (group of people who try to influence public officials)

   Synonyms: grupo de presión, (Latin America) grupo de cabildeo

2. lobby (entryway or reception area)

   Synonym: vestíbulo

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “lobby”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

lobby c

1. a lobby (entryway or reception area)
2. (politics) a lobby

• lobby in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lobby in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)