president

plural presidents · alternative abbreviation pres. · alternative honorific President · alternative honorific Pres. · alternative archaic praesident · alternative archaic præsident · alternative archaic præs.

1. The head of state of a republic, sometimes also the head of government as well, particularly (US politics) the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States of America.

   The vast majority of presidents have been male.

   3 more examples

   Well, nobody else can make a decision but me because I was the President and the final decision comes to the President, you know. I used to have a sign on my desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here." The buck stops at the president's desk when he's president of the United States, and he either makes the decisions or he lets them go by default, and you can't afford to do that when you're president.

   1965, Harry S. Truman, 0:20 from the start, in MP2002-401 Former President Truman Discusses "The Buck Stops Here", Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162

   […] to change the pattern of the last 220 years of only voting for a white male president, and elect a woman president […]

   2007, Benjamin Camins, Hillary Is the Best Choice, Page 144

   The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came as as^([sic]) Trump makes clear to his advisers he wants to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end. […] The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit.

   2025 February 12, Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak, “After Putin call, Trump says negotiations to end Ukraine war will start ‘immediately’”, in CNN

   Synonyms: POTUS

2. businessA person presiding over a corporation, usually an executive overseeing daily operations under a chief executive officer but sometimes a separate position held by a CEO.
3. A person presiding over a meeting.

   The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President,[…]

   1803, Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution

   Synonyms: chair, presiding officer, presider

4. A person presiding over a dinner or similar informal conversation.

   At another dinner, the president, on the removal of the cloth, rose and said... We will conduct weself in sich a manner, dat massa will neber be sorry for what him do dis night.

   1834 September 27, Anonymous, "West Indies: Spanish Town, Aug. 2, 1834", Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. XLVII (Vol. XI, 4th Ser.), p. 58

1. archaicnot comparableOccupying the first rank or chief place; having the highest authority; presiding.

   His angels president / In every province.

   1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

present singular third person presidents · participle present presidenting · participle past presidented · past presidented

1. To act as president; to do presidential duties.

   1 more example

   Although in other ways you couldn’t imagine two more dissimilar men, [Scott Wiener's] ferociously active spirit resembles the Bolshevik antsiness of Donald Trump. The current president is attractive to some voters who might not agree with his values, or his language, or even his policies, but who like that the president is, well, presidenting. Last year, Trump bulldozed the East Wing of the White House, one of the most recognizable historic sites in the United States. [In contrast,] In Democratic cities, people demand 38 meetings and three dozen environmental assessments before tearing down a crack den to build a nursery for sad orphans.

   2026 January 11, Helen Lewis, “The YIMBY Hero Everyone Is Shouting At”, in The Atlantic

plural presidents

1. obsoleteObsolete form of precedent.

   The thirſt of raigne and ſweetnes of a crowne, That cauſd the eldeſt ſonne of heauenly Ops, To thruſt his doting father from his chaire, And place himſelfe in the Emperiall heauen, Moou’d me to menage armes againſt thy ſtate. What better preſident than mightie Ioue?

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii

plural Presidents

1. An honorific for the head of state of a republic.

   the President of the United States

   4 more examples

   I was not just the President of Southern Americans or white Americans. I was the President of all Americans. I believed that a huge injustice had been perpetrated for hundreds of years on every black man, woman, and child in the United States. I did not think that our nation could endure much longer as a viable democracy if that injustice were allowed to continue.

   1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39

   Bill Clinton was elected on an untenable premise: that it is the job of the President to manage the economy. Yes, that is what we have come to expect of Presidents; but this expectation, the author argues, is punishingly at variance with anything any President can credibly deliver[.]

   1993 July 28, Charles R. Morris, “It's Not the Economy, Stupid”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2025

   In the past, this has been true for Presidents who notified NARA before leaving office that they intended to build a presidential library – something Trump did not do.

   2023 June 9, Jamie Gangel, Zachary Cohen and Elizabeth Stuart, “National Archives refutes claims Trump had two years to go through presidential records in rare public statement”, in CNN

   “We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump wrote.

   2025 February 12, Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak, “After Putin call, Trump says negotiations to end Ukraine war will start ‘immediately’”, in CNN

1. A surname.