sense of the meeting
- noun
- Although something comparable to a sense of the meeting unifies some senior seminars or projects (like the art students whose work is corporately exhibited, or students in Women's Studies who publicly reflect on how what they have learned in their classes and internships has altered their understanding of gender issues), nothing of this sort is required for graduation.
Examples
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What is called "a sense of the meeting"—an agreement with which everyone feels comfortable—is arrived at through the expression of disparate views, within which a commonalty emerges and is discerned as the answer.
Academic text (1993) -
The business is moved along by the clerk who sustains the focus on one agenda item at a time and who "gathers" the sense of the meeting.
Academic text (1993) -
In a democratic voting process, this proposal probably would have prevailed, and the opposition of the vocal and disaffected minority would probably have intensified; by seeking a sense of the meeting, conflicts were faced, and through a mediation process, a small group found an alternative that proved acceptable to the faculty as a whole.
Academic text (1993) -
The committee reached a clear sense of the meeting after discussing everyone's opinions on the proposed changes.
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After hearing everyone's thoughts, they were able to determine the sense of the meeting and move forward with a plan.
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It was important for the leader to ensure that the sense of the meeting reflected the views of all the participants.
Synonyms
A situation in which people have the same opinion or give their approval
Agreement among a group of people about an idea or decision
Complete agreement and understanding between people that lets them work together
A general agreement among a group of people, for example at a meeting
An agreement between people or groups reached after discussion
Antonyms
How United
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'sense' (a general feeling or awareness) combined with 'meeting' yields 'the general feeling among meeting participants', which corresponds to consensus or agreement. This 'sense of X' pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic construction, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The phrase sense of the meeting comes from the image of a chairperson watching faces and nods to feel the room, because the sense or general feeling of the meeting shows if people 'agree'. So it means the group's overall 'agreement' or feeling without a formal vote.