branches of government

Cultural

The division of government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In the case of the federal government, the three branches were established by the Constitution. The executive branch consists of the president, the cabinet, and the various departments and executive agencies. The legislative branch consists of the two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and their staff. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and the other federal courts.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But in some ways, the defeat—for all its symbolic weight in the dynamic between two branches of government—wasn’t total.

From The Wall Street Journal

In a statement given to police, Vorcaro said he had "friends in all branches of government."

From Barron's

“Powell’s arguably been as adept as Greenspan at dealing with Congress, which potentially matters in the background, all cynicism about the gumption of other branches of government aside,” said Benson Durham, head of global policy at Piper Sandler, referring to storied former Fed chief.

From MarketWatch

Unfortunately, because the special election was only to serve out the remainder of Sessions’ term, Jones had to run again in 2020 and was beaten by former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, a man who said during his campaign that the three branches of government are “the House, the Senate and the executive.”

From Salon

In Vilnius, Vilmantas Vitkauskas runs the crisis management centre that brings together various branches of government and security services.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023