select committee
- noun
- Formal
- Do you solemnly swear the evidence you've given before this senate select committee shall be the truth?
- select committee of the House
So our Select Committee include members from all political parties.
- So our Select Committee include members from all political parties.
Examples
-
By 1983, the House of Representatives had twenty-six standing and select committees, almost all with at least one subcommittee active in foreign policy.
Academic text (2001) -
The Commonwealth of Virginia has convened a select committee to study the University of the Twenty-First Century.
Academic text (1990) -
Not all Republican senators agree with the need for a special select committee.
Blog text (15) -
I will expect you to appear before this select committee... in 48 hours with the proper answers.
-
A select committee was assigned the job of implementing the elements agreed upon in the Virginia Plan into a final document.
Academic text (1993) -
The government is not prepared to grant the honorable member's request for the appointment of a select committee of members of this house.
-
The select committee founded for this purpose produced a report in 1836 that pulled no punches.
Academic text (2011) -
I ask that a select committee of this house be appointed to investigate not the charges implied by these letters, but the real authorship of the letters themselves.
-
In 1955, a House select committee headed by Representative Haley held additional congressional hearings on termination in Florida.
Academic text (2000) -
The parliament established a bipartisan select committee to investigate the recent election irregularities.
Synonyms
A group of people who meet to discuss and make decisions about something
How Permanent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a committee appointed for a specific purpose' is directly derivable from combining 'select' (chosen/appointed) with 'committee' (a group formed to address matters). This adjective–noun composition is a standard, compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Select committee comes from the idea of a small group that is select ('chosen') to be a committee and 'investigate' one issue. That's why it means a group set up 'for a specific purpose' to look closely at a problem.