federal office
- noun
- /ˈfɛdərəl ˈɔfɪs/
- US
- The federal office responsible for immigration issues is located downtown and is open on weekdays.
- candidates for federal office
Examples
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In this cycle, only a handful of candidates for federal office are getting support, and donations from NPLA are modest.
Blog text (26) -
In fact, I would support requiring every candidate for federal office to undergo and release an evaluation.
Blog text (5) -
However, since he was elected to federal office, he has always been pro-life.
Blog text (9) -
The current law limits contributions an individual may make to candidates for federal office to $1,000 per candidate per election.
Academic text (2002) -
An individual must limit his or her total annual contributions to all candidates for federal office to $25,000.
Academic text (2002) -
Both involved allegations of criminal activity by high-ranking executive officials while holding federal office.
Academic text (1998) -
There will be a separate primary just for federal offices (House and Senate) in June.
Blog text (18) -
Interestingly, the United States Constitution specifies minimum, not maximum, ages for election to federal office.
Academic text (2002) -
In the last analysis, however, the dignity of federal offices and institutions reflects on the dignity of the citizenry who support it.
Academic text (2003) -
Partisanship also dominated the House and Senate elections, and the linkages between electoral behavior and outcomes across federal offices were the strongest in at least 60 years.
Academic text (2013)
Synonyms
A job with official power in a government or organization
A government department that deals with a specific area, like investigations
An official part of the government that provides a public service
A government organization that does specific jobs for the national government, like the Environmental Protection Agency
A place where government workers do official work for the public
A part of government that runs public services like schools
A part of the national government that handles a specific public task, like law or health
A national government department that carries out laws and manages public affairs, like the Department of State
How Important
- US
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a government department or agency that is part of the federal government' is directly and transparently built from 'federal' (connected to the main government) + 'office' (an official post or agency). This modifier+noun composition is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Federal office comes from the image of a government building in the capital city where people work for the whole country. Federal means 'for the whole country' and office means a place for official work, so the phrase means a department that is part of the national government.