lobbying

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The activity of attempting to influence the decisions of officials, especially legislators or government bodies.

   Like a steady drumbeat of persuasion aimed at the people who write the rules.

   The pharmaceutical industry's lobbying delayed the proposed regulations for years.

   Environmental groups stepped up their lobbying ahead of the vote.

   Similaradvocacy, campaigning, pressure, persuasion

   Note

   Usually uncountable, but it can be counted: Elizabeth Crawford's Women's Suffrage Movement (2003) speaks of "the various lobbyings of parliament in 1905," meaning separate occasions. Watch the of-phrase, which can face either way. In the lobbying of parliament it names the target, while in Trains Illustrated (1961), "the lobbying of some powerful" groups names the people doing the lobbying. Context alone tells you which.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of lobby.

   The union is lobbying members of Congress to support the bill.

   Activists have been lobbying for stricter safety standards.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty as participle and gerund, and the verb behind it works two ways. Transitively it takes the person being persuaded: lobbying members of Congress. Intransitively it takes for plus the cause: "those lobbying for technology to assist officials," as Phil McNulty wrote for the BBC in 2012. As a gerund it can still take an object (lobbying senators is slow work), which sets it apart from the noun for the activity.

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