caucus

Everyday

1. (politics) A meeting of members of a political party or group to choose candidates or decide what to do, especially in the USA. tree →
2. A group of people inside an organisation who share the same interests. tree →
3. (Alice) The Caucus-race in Alice in Wonderland is a silly race where everyone runs in a circle, starting and stopping when they like, and at the end the Dodo says «Everybody has won, and all must have prizes». tree →

In the lessons

In the US, the Iowa caucuses help choose presidential candidates. In New Zealand and Australia, a party caucus is its members of parliament meeting together. In Alice, Carroll is making fun of politics: the caucus-race goes nowhere and everybody wins, to dry the animals off after the pool of tears. Phrase: «everybody has won and all must have prizes».

Examples

• The Dodo said the best way to get dry was a Caucus-race. tree →
• The party caucus met to choose a new leader. tree →
• In the Caucus-race, they ran round and round in a circle. tree →
• Iowa holds its caucus in winter. tree →
• Everybody won the Caucus-race, so everybody had a prize. tree →
• The caucus voted for the plan. tree →

Note

Plural caucuses. Sounds like «CAW-kus». Mostly a politics word in the US, Australia and NZ.