noun, plural -ties, adjective, verb, -tied, -ty⋅ing.| 1. | a social gathering, as of invited guests at a private home, for conversation, refreshments, entertainment, etc.: a cocktail party. |
| 2. | a group gathered for a special purpose or task: a fishing party; a search party. |
| 3. | a detachment, squad, or detail of troops assigned to perform some particular mission or service. |
| 4. | a group of persons with common purposes or opinions who support one side of a dispute, question, debate, etc. |
| 5. | a group of persons with common political opinions and purposes organized for gaining political influence and governmental control and for directing government policy: the Republican party; the Democratic party. |
| 6. | the system of taking sides on public or political questions or the like. |
| 7. | attachment or devotion to one side or faction; partisanship: to put considerations of party first. |
| 8. | Law.
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| 9. | a person or group that participates in some action, affair, plan, etc.; participant: He was a party to the merger deal. |
| 10. | the person under consideration; a specific individual: Look at the party in the green velvet shorts. |
| 11. | a person or, usually, two or more persons together patronizing a restaurant, attending a social or cultural function, etc.: The headwaiter asked how many were in our party; a party of 12 French physicists touring the labs; a party of one at the small table. |
| 12. | a person participating in a telephone conversation: I have your party on the line. |
| 13. | any occasion or activity likened to a social party, as specified; session: The couple in the next apartment are having their usual dish-throwing party. |
| 14. | an advantageous or pleasurable situation or combination of circumstances of some duration and often of questionable character; period of content, license, exemption, etc.: The police broke in and suddenly the party was over for the nation's most notorious gunman. |
| 15. | of or pertaining to a party or faction; partisan: party leaders. |
| 16. | of or for a social gathering: her new party dress. |
| 17. | being shared by or pertaining to two or more persons or things. |
| 18. | Heraldry. (of an escutcheon) having the field divided into a number of parts, usually two; parted. |
| 19. | to go to or give parties, esp. a series of parties. |
| 20. | to enjoy oneself thoroughly and without restraint; indulge in pleasure. |

par·ty (pär'tē) n. pl. par·ties
To celebrate or carouse at or as if at a party: That night we partied until dawn. [Middle English partie, part, side, group, from Old French, from feminine past participle of partir, to divide, from Latin partīre, from pars, part-, part; see part.] par'ty·er, par'ti·er n. Usage Note: Party is unexceptionable when used to refer to a participant in a social arrangement, as in She was not named as a party in the conspiracy. It is this sense that underlies the legal use of the term, as when one speaks of the parties to a contract. The legal use has in turn led to the presence of the word in many fixed expressions, such as injured party and third party. But party is also widely used as a general substitute for person, as in Would all parties who left packages at the desk please reclaim them. This usage has been established for many centuries, but in the Victorian era it came to be associated with the language of the semieducated and it has been the subject of many later criticisms. This use of party may have been reinforced in the 20th century by its adoption by telephone operators. In other contexts, when used in earnest, it may be perceived as a superfluous variant for person. But the jocular use of the term is well established, particularly in references such as a wise old party. |
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