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Glite Dictionary
Vice President of the United States

Vice President of the United States

12 3.0
A person who is second in the United States government and leads the Senate, becoming President if needed
  • noun
  • /vaɪs ˈprɛzɪdənt əv ði juːˈnaɪtɪd steɪts/
  • Formal
translation icon : vicepresidente de los Estados Unidos
  • I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America.
  • Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle
  • Vice President of the United States, Al Gore
  • Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence

Some Americans don't know the vice president of the United States.

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Examples

  • Nelson Rockefeller was a Vice President of the United States.

    Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (2006)

  • Who is the Vice President of the United States?

    Academic text (2001)

  • "My dad is the Vice President of the United States," he continued.

    Blog text (2)

  • When the time comes, I will be proud to accept my nomination for the Vice President of the United States.

    Enemies Among Us (2010)

  • Joe Robinette Biden is the current Vice President of the United States.

    Blog text (22)

  • I was honored to run for Vice President of the United States alongside Senator John McCain.

    Blog text (10)

  • As a comparison, the Vice President of the United States earns $230,700.

    Blog text (9)

  • The Vice President of the United States acts as a key advisor to the President.

  • In case of the President's absence, the Vice President of the United States presides over Senate meetings.

  • Kamala Harris is the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States.

Synonyms

vice president
vsVice President of the United States
352 3.4

A senior leader who is second in charge and takes over when the leader is away

has the additional duty of presiding over the Senate and succeeding the president if needed
veep
vsVice President of the United States
  • Slang
6 8.4

A person who is the vice president in government or business

is the formal official title used in government and legal contexts
V.P.
vsVice President of the United States
3.4

A person who helps run a company and ranks just below the president

is the full formal title rather than a shortened written form

Surface Forms

Vice President of the United States singular
Vice Presidents of the United States plural

Morphology

Vice + President + of + the + united + state

The meaning 'second-highest executive officer' is directly derivable from combining 'vice' (deputy/in place of) with 'president', and 'of the United States' clearly specifies the jurisdiction. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g., vice-président, vicepresidente), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Vice President of the United States comes from two older words: vice meaning 'in place of' and president meaning 'one who sits before others', so picture someone who sits ready to take the leader's seat. That's why the title means the second-highest officer who leads the Senate and steps in if the President cannot serve.