mass meeting
1
3.4
- noun
- /mæs ˈmiːtɪŋ/
- The community organized a mass meeting to rally support for local environmental initiatives.
- held a mass meeting
- organized a mass meeting
Examples
-
In Selma, our pilgrimage host Joanne Bland took me back to Brown's Chapel, where in 1965 mass meetings had launched the Selma voting rights movement.
Academic text (1999) -
At the mass meeting that night, there was a crowd, and it was pumped.
Academic text (2006) -
There is now little doubt that this mass meeting will take place.
-
While the Committee of Safety was holding its mass meeting, the Committee of Law and Order held its meeting.
Academic text (1992) -
But you have not been to a mass meeting as this promises to be.
-
Two famous Black physicians were brought in from New York and Chicago to speak at two mass meetings.
Academic text (1994) -
The night before Medicare began, the hospital called a mass meeting.
Blog text (8) -
The assistant adjutant general attended another mass meeting with approximately six hundred people present.
Academic text (2000) -
Should the government limit the holding of political mass meetings and demonstrations to stabilize the situation in the country?
Academic text (1997) -
The following month, Macon's mechanics held a mass meeting to petition the Confederate Congress to exempt them from the draft.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
385
3.8
A large public meeting to support an idea or group
248
2.5
A group of people who meet for a common purpose
163
1.0
A meeting of people for a social or special purpose
20
1.0
The joining of two things to become one, like rivers or ideas
5
2.2
A planned time when several people come together to talk about something
How Large
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large public gathering' is directly compositional from 'mass' (a large accumulation) + 'meeting' (a planned convening). This straightforward noun-noun combination follows common compounding patterns (found in many languages) and involves no idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Mass meeting comes from the words mass, meaning a large crowd, and meeting, meaning a gathering. Imagine a town square full of people who have come together to hear speakers or support a cause, and that image explains why it means 'a large public gathering'.