[sol-i-dar-i-tee] 
| 1. | union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.: to promote solidarity among union members. |
| 2. | community of feelings, purposes, etc. |
| 3. | community of responsibilities and interests. |
[sol-i-dar-i-tee] | a Polish organization of independent trade unions founded in 1980: outlawed by the government of Poland in 1982. |
[saw-lee-dahr-nawshch] .| sol·i·dar·i·ty (sŏl'ĭ-dār'ĭ-tē) n. A union of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a group; fellowship of responsibilities and interests: "A downtrodden class ... will never be able to make an effective protest until it achieves solidarity" (H.G. Wells). [French solidarité, from solidaire, interdependent, from Old French, in common, from Latin solidus, solid, whole; see solid.] |
A labor union in Poland, independent of the government and of the Polish Communist party, that grew to a membership of several million in the early 1980s. Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity pushed for many reforms and played a major part in the ouster of communism in Poland and its replacement by a multiparty, democratic government. The movement's influence began to decline in the 1990s.
ɪˈdær