Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

act of congress

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.75 in modern English

Syllables: ac-t of -congress
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A statute enacted by the United States Congress or Congress of the Philippines.

American usage

noun

An authorization that is extremely difficult to obtain, especially in a timely fashion.

American usage; Colloquial

Example Sentences

"Does it take an act of Congress just to get a stop sign on a corner?"
"Should Frederick stick around — and apparently it would take an act of Congress to get him out of the ICU — he might take up where Molly had brutally left off."
"Since it seemed like getting a glass of wine was going to require an act of Congress, I quickly agreed."
"Another problem was bureaucratic: the transfer of the ship required, literally, an act of Congress. It was an agonizing process that ground along for twenty-six months, through the tenures of three secretaries of the navy, two presidents, and two mayors of New York."

Etymology

From the literal sense of act (“legislation”) enacted by US Congress.

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

acts of Congress (plural)

Questions

What does act of congress mean?: A statute enacted by the United States Congress or Congress of the Philippines.
Where does act of congress come from?: From the literal sense of act (“legislation”) enacted by US Congress.

How to pronounce act of congress

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