# lobby

Pronunciation: say "LOB-ee" US /ˈlɑ.bi/, UK /ˈlɒb.i/, AUS /ˈlɔb.i/

## Noun

1. The entrance hall or reception area of a building, often serving as a passageway or waiting space.
   - Simple: The open area just inside the front doors of a building, where people come in and wait.
   - _Guests gathered in the marble lobby before the gala began._
   - _The office lobby featured a reception desk and several seating areas._
2. A group of people sharing an interest who try to influence public officials in favor of their cause.
   - Simple: A group of people who try to make government leaders agree with their ideas.
   - _The pharmaceutical lobby spent millions trying to shape the new regulations._
   - _Environmental lobbies have grown more organized over the past decade._
4. The part of a legislative hall not reserved for the official business of the assembly, where outsiders may gather.
   - Simple: The part of a lawmaking hall that is open to people other than the officials.
   - _Petitioners crowded the lobby hoping to buttonhole a senator between sessions._
   - _Journalists mingled in the lobby waiting for the vote to conclude._
5. The waiting area in front of a bank of elevators, where people stand before the doors open.
   - Simple: The waiting space in front of a group of elevators in a building.
   - _She stepped out of the elevator into a quiet upper-floor lobby._
   - _The building's ground-floor elevator lobby was lined with mirrors._
6. A virtual space in a video game where players can chat and find opponents before a match begins.
   - Simple: An online space in a game where players talk and find others to play against.
   - _Everyone gathered in the multiplayer lobby while the host set up the match._
   - _The game dropped players into a shared lobby to form teams._
7. A virtual waiting area where people attending an online meeting stay until an authorized person admits them.
   - Simple: An online waiting space where people stay until someone lets them into a meeting.
   - _The presenter kept attendees in the lobby until the session was ready to begin._
   - _Two participants appeared in the lobby, waiting for the organizer to let them in._
8. In kabaddi, the margin running along either side of the playing field, bordering the main court area.
   - Simple: A strip of ground along each side of the playing field in the sport of kabaddi.
   - _The groundskeepers marked each lobby with its own line running the full length of the kabaddi court._
   - _The defender forced the raider toward the lobby near the sideline._
9. A confined enclosure for cattle near the farmyard, formed by hedges, trees, or other fencing.
   - Simple: A small fenced space near a farmyard for keeping cattle.
   - _At dusk the herd was penned in the lobby beside the barn._
   - _They patched the gaps in the lobby's hedges before winter._
10. On an old-fashioned ship, a compartment or passageway in the forward part of the cabin beneath the quarter-deck.
   - Simple: A small room or passage in the front part of the cabin on an old ship.
   - _The midshipman waited in the lobby outside the great cabin for the captain's summons._
   - _A lantern swung in the cramped lobby beneath the quarter-deck._
11. Lobscouse, a thick stew of meat and vegetables cooked slowly together. *(dialectal, West Midlands)*
   - Simple: A thick stew of meat and vegetables, also called lobscouse.
   - _Our nan always cooked lobby on a Monday, using up the meat left over from the Sunday roast._
   - _The café on the high street serves a thick bowl of lobby with crusty bread and pickled red cabbage._

## Verb

3. To try to influence a public official or decision-maker in favor of a particular opinion or cause.
   - Simple: To try to make a public official or leader support a certain idea or cause.
   - _The union lobbied lawmakers to raise the minimum wage._
   - _Several charities lobby on behalf of homeless families._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–10** — From Medieval Latin lobia, lobium, or laubia ("a portico, covered way, gallery"), borrowed from Frankish *laubijā ("arbor, shelter") and related to Old English lēaf ("foliage"); it is a doublet of leaf, lodge, and loggia. The political sense derives from the entrance hall of legislatures, where people traditionally tried to influence legislators because it was the most convenient place to meet them.
**Meaning 11** — Shortened from lobscouse.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lobby (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).