Webster's English Dictionary

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government

gov.ern.ment \'g*v-*r(n)-m*nt, 'g*v-*m-*nt\ \.g*v-*r(n)-'ment-*l\ \-*l-e-\ 
   n often attrib  obs  1: DISCRETION  2: the act or process of governing; 
   specif : authoritative directio n or control 3a: the office, authority, or 
   function of governing  obs  3b: the term during which a governing official 
   holds office  4a: the continuous exercise of authority over and the 
   performance of functi ons for a political unit : RULE 4b: the political 
   function of policy making as distinguished from the admin istration of 
   policy decisions 5a: the organization, machinery, or agency through which a 
   political unit e xercises authority and performs functions and which is 
   usu. classified according to the distribution of power within it 5b: the 
   complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which  the 
   function of governing is carried out in a specific political unit 6: the 
   body of persons that constitutes the governing authority of a politi cal 
   unit or organization : as 6a: the officials comprising the governing body 
   of a political unit and con stituting the organization as an active agency 
   cap  6b: the executive branch of the U.S. federal government including the 
   polit ical officials and usu. the permanent civil service employees cap  
   6c: a small group of persons holding simultaneously the principal political 
    executive offices of a nation or other political unit and responsible for 
   the direction and supervision of public affairs : 6c1: such a group in a 
   parliamentary system constituted by the cabinet or b y the ministry 6c2: 
   ADMINISTRATION  7: POLITICAL SCIENCE  - gov.ern.men.tal aj