party Hear it!

party Definition

party (pärt′ē)

noun pl. -·ties

  1. a group of people working together to establish or promote particular theories or principles of government which they hold in common; esp., an organized political group which seeks to elect its candidates to office and thus to direct government policies
  2. any group of persons acting together; specif.,
    1. a group sent out on a task or mission a surveying party
    2. a group meeting together socially to accomplish a task a quilting party
    3. a group assembled for amusement or recreation a fishing party
  3. a gathering for social entertainment, or the entertainment itself, often of a specific nature a birthday party, cocktail party
  4. a person who participates or is concerned in an action, proceeding, plan, etc.: often with to to be a party to a conspiracy
  5. either of the persons or sides concerned in a legal matter
  6. Informal a person the party who telephoned

Etymology: ME partie < OFr < partir, to divide < L partiri < pars, part

adjective

  1. of or having to do with a political party a party leader
  2. for a social gathering party clothes

intransitive verb -·tied, -·ty·ing

  1. ☆ to attend or hold social parties
  2. Informal to take part in social activity, as at a party, in an unrestrained, often boisterous manner, usually while drinking alcoholic beverages, taking drugs, etc.

party Related Forms
par′ty·er noun
party Synonyms

party

n.

  1. A social affair

    at-home, tea, luncheon, dinner party, dinner, cocktail hour, surprise party, house party, social, bee, reception, banquet, feast, affair, gathering, soirée, function, gala, fete, ball, recreation, fun, jollification, cheer, beguilement, accommodation, amusement, entertainment, festive occasion, carousal, diversion, performance, high tea, kaffee-klatsch, binge*, spree*, toot*, riot*, splurge*, tear*, shindig*, blowout*, bash*.

  2. A group of people

    multitude, mob, company; see crowd 1, gathering.

  3. A political organization

    organized group, body, electorate, combine, combination, bloc, ring, junta, partisans, cabal; see also faction 1.

    Well-known political parties include --- historical: Guelph, Ghibelline, Jacobin, Girondist, Yorkist, Lancastrian, Puritan, Roundhead, Politique, Tory, Whig, Know-Nothing, Grangers, Greenback, People's, Mugwump, Prohibition, Bull Moose, Farmer-Labor, Progressive, Populist; twentieth-century: Republican, GOP*, Democratic, Libertarian, Liberal, Conservative, Labour, Popular Front, National Socialist, Nazi, Fascist, Falangist, Congress Party, Kuomintang, Comintern, Third International, Socialist, Communist, Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, Independent, Peace and Freedom, Black Panther, American Independent, Townsendite, Epic.

  4. An individual or group involved in legal proceedings

    litigant, participant, contractor, agent, plotter, confederate, cojuror, compurgator; see also defendant.

    Types of parties, sense 4, include: plaintiff, complainant, defendant, purchaser, buyer, seller, lessor, lessee, employer, employee, licenser, licensee.

  5. *A specified but unnamed individual

    party of the first part, party of the second part, etc.; someone, individual; see person 1, somebody.

party Law Definition

n

A person taking part in a transaction or contract; a person or entity directly involved in a lawsuit.
aggrieved party
A party whose pecuniary, personal, or property rights have been negatively affected by the actions of another or by a court’s ruling. See also aggrieved.
indispensible party
See indispensible party.
necessary party
A party whose interests will be affected by his or her close connection to the case and who should be included if feasible, but whose absence would not require the proceedings’ dismissal.
nominal party
. A party who appears on the record because of the technical rules of pleading, but who does not necessarily have any real interest in the outcome of the case.
party to be charged
Contract law, the party against whom enforcement of the agreement is sought.
party wall
Real property, a common support structure between two separately owned pieces of property.
prevailing party
The party in whose favor a judgment is rendered, regardless of its magnitude or extent.
proper party
A party not essential to the proceeding, but who may be joined in the case because of judicial economy or an interest in the subject matter of the litigation.
real party in interest
A person who generally but not necessarily benefits from the suit’s final outcome, and who is entitled under law to enforce the right the suit is based upon.
third party
  A designation of any person not directly involved in a transaction or lawsuit.
party Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • involve: For example, ACAS mediation may involve the third party neutral issuing a written recommendation.
  • throw: If you throw a poor bachelor party, you might as well throw away your friendship.
  • join: They had felt a bit left out of things so had come along to join the party.
  • notify: Liner bills of lading were duly issued for the consignments, naming the claimants as the shippers and Gold Crown as the notify party.

Adjective modifier

  • third: We will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent.
  • interested: I would be happy in talking to any interested parties.
  • political: Hmm... what do you need to do to start up a political party?
  • Conservative: I therefore suspect that, under him, the Conservative party would be utterly isolated on those matters.
  • communist: The European Communist Parties were mass organizations, but nevertheless minorities.
  • 3rd: We do not now nor do we presently intend to sell, rent, market Personal Data to 3rd parties.

Modifies a noun

  • politics: They are more often than not turned off by party politics or even politics generally.
  • leader: Many thanks Dave for your support, on behalf of all the working party leaders.
  • websites: FMS 6.76 Guidance Please note that Findel Education is not responsible for content on third party websites.
  • atmosphere: Evan puts the " party atmosphere " down to all the bands knowing each other.

Noun used with modifier

  • birthday: Later she is invited to the birthday party of a wealthy spoilt child, Paula Brown.
  • dinner: Great for families or adult groups wanting generous space for a dinner party.
  • opposition: The stance of an opposition party should not depend on the prominence its leader is given on the national stage.
  • hen: The fair will have a vast array of different trades including bridalwear, menswear through to photographers, florists and even hen party planning!
  • cocktail: On the first Sunday of Term there will be a welcome cocktail party for all new graduates in College.
  • ruling: Ruling parties should not dominate the scrutiny of their own executive.
party Quotes

Morality is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger party.

—Thrasymachus   5c

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.

—Maugham,W(illiam) Somerset

To err is human; to blame it on the other party is politics.

—Anonymous

On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provisions for discourse.

—Austen,Jane

   Though the Jazz Age continued, it became less and less of an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children's party taken over by the elders.

—Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott Key

While I cannot take time off to name all the men in the State Department whohavebeennamedasmembers of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.

—McCarthy,Joseph R(aymond)

The Conservatives, as being by the law of theirexistence the stupidest party.

—Mill,John Stuart

The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks the best.

—Rogers,Will

   A constant effort to keep a party together, without sacrificing either principle or the essentials of basic strategy, is the very stuff of political leadership. Macmillan was canonized for it.

—Wilson of Rievaulx, (James) Harold Wilson, Baron

Poetryisnotanexpressionofthepartyline.It'sthattimeof night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.

—Ginsberg, Allen

A great partyought nottobe brought down because of a squalid affair between a woman of easy virtue and a proved liar.

—Hailsham, Quintin (McGarel) Hogg, 2nd Viscount

Heard there was a party.Came.

—Munston,Lady Peel

Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the state of victimization.When access to a better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts.

—Angelou, Maya originally MayaJohnson

If I'dseenmeataparty,I'dneverhavegoneupandmet me.

—Hoffman, Dustin

Labour is the Party of law and order in Britain todayötough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.

—Blair,Tony (Anthony Charles Lynton)

Harold Macmillan held his party together by not allowing his left wing to see what his right wing was doing.

—Baroness

After three general election victories, leading the only party with clear policies, resolutely carried out, I intend to continue.

—Thatcher, Margaret HildaThatcher, Baroness

Faction is to party what the superlative is to the positive. Party is a political evil, and faction is the worst of all parties.

—Bolingbroke, Henry StJohn, 1st Viscount

Party is organized opinion.

—Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessaryelements of a healthystate of political life.

—Mill,John Stuart

   The party must protect itself against the activities of small groups of inflexible political persuasion†having in common only their arrogant dogmatism† I have no wish to lead a party of political zombies.

—Wilson of Rievaulx, (James) Harold Wilson, Baron

Party on, dude!

—Myers, Mike

Party platforms are contracts with the people.

—Truman, Harry S

   'Who controls the past,'ran the Party slogan,'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair

Some of us will fight and fight again to save the party we love.We will fight and fight againtobring back sanityand honestyand dignity, so that our party, with its great past, may retain its glory and its greatness.

—Gaitskell, Hugh

If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us!

—Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Honour is not the exclusive property of any political party.

—Hoover, Herbert Clark

   When a man reaches old age, he will die and the same is true of a party.

—Mao Zedong or MaoTse-tung

He serves his party best who serves his country best.

—Hayes,J Milton

The party's over, it's time to call it a day.

—Comden, Betty pseudonym of  Elizabeth Cohen

The sooner every party breaks up the better.

—Austen,Jane

The Holy Spirit is the invisible third party who stands between me and the other, making us mutually aware.

—Taylor,JohnVincent