union

plural unions

1. countableThe act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.

   Synonyms: junction, coalition, combination · Antonyms: nonunion, disunion

2. uncountableThe state of being united or joined; a state of unity or harmony.

   Antonyms: nonunion, disunion

3. countableSomething united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; a league.
4. countableA trade union; a workers' union.

   In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

5. countableAn association of students at a university for social and/or political purposes; also in some cases a debating body.
6. countableA joint or other connection uniting parts of machinery, such as pipes.
7. countablemathematicsThe set containing all of the elements of two or more sets.
8. countableThe act or state of marriage.
9. archaiceuphemisticuncountableSexual intercourse.
10. countablecomputerA data structure that can store any of various types of item, but only one at a time.

    Unions are useful in those cases where you need to keep track of a value that can be represented as different data types during the lifetime of the program.

    2008, Kris Bell, Lars Ivar Igesund, Sean Kelly, Learn to Tango with D, page 58

11. archaiccountableA large, high-quality pearl.

    And in the cup an union shall he throw, Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn.

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]

    1 more example

    Nonius the senator hath a purple coat as stiff with jewels as his mind is full of vices; rings on his fingers worth 20,000 sesterces, and[…]an union in his ear worth an hundred pounds' weight of gold […]

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 3

12. countablehistoricaluncountableAn affiliation of several parishes for joint support and management of their poor; also the jointly-owned workhouse.

present singular third person unions · participle present unioning · participle past unioned · past unioned

1. mathematicsTo combine sets using the union operation.

comparative more union · superlative most union

1. Belonging to, represented by, or otherwise pertaining to a labour union.

   Actors have to be union to get work here.

   Synonyms: unionized · Antonyms: nonunion

2. Indiafederal.

   The union government of India

plural Unions

1. The 0-10-2 locomotive wheel arrangement.
2. The canton of the United States flag: the portion of the flag containing stars on a blue background.

1. USdatedespeciallyobsoleteThe United States of America.

   threats to secede from the Union

2. UShistoricalThose of the United States that did not secede at the time of the Civil War (of the United States of America).

   Union troops at Gettysburg

3. historicalThe Soviet Union: the proper noun Union is the standard English translation of the proper noun Союз (Sojuz), and All-Union is the standard English translation of всесоюзный (vsesojuznyj).

   throughout the Union, but nowhere more so than at the Center [Moscow]

4. IndiaalternativelawAlternative form of union.
5. Place names:
   1. A community in Central Elgin municipality, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada.
   2. A barangay of Ubay, Bohol, Philippines.
   3. A village on the south cast of the island of Siargao, Surigao del Norte, Philippines.
   4. A town in Greene County, Alabama.
   5. A ghost town in Merced County, California.
   6. A former unincorporated community in Napa County, California.
   7. A small town in Tolland County, Connecticut.
   8. A village in McHenry County, Illinois.
   9. An unincorporated community in Clay Township, Pike County, Indiana.
   10. A tiny city in Hardin County, Iowa.
   11. A home rule city in Boone County, Kentucky.
   12. A town in Knox County, Maine.
   13. A town in Neshoba County and Newton County, Mississippi.
   14. A city, the county seat of Franklin County, Missouri.
   15. An unincorporated community in Clark County, Missouri.
   16. A village in Cass County, Nebraska.
   17. A village and census-designated place in the town of Wakefield, Carroll County, New Hampshire.
   18. A township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
   19. A township and census-designated place therein, in Union County, New Jersey.
   20. A hamlet in Madison County, New York.
   21. A large town in Broome County, New York.
   22. A city in Montgomery County and Miami County, Ohio.
   23. A city in Union County, Oregon.
   24. A city, the county seat of Union County, South Carolina.
   25. An unincorporated community in Floyd County, Virginia.
   26. A small town, the county seat of Monroe County, West Virginia.
   27. A small town in Burnett County, Wisconsin.
   28. A small town in Door County, Wisconsin.
   29. A town and unincorporated community in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.
   30. An unincorporated community in the town of Lima, Grant County, Wisconsin.
   31. A small town in Pierce County, Wisconsin.
   32. A town and unincorporated community in Rock County, Wisconsin.
   33. A small town in Vernon County, Wisconsin.
   34. A small town in Waupaca County, Wisconsin.
   35. A large number of other townships in the United States, listed under Union Township.

plural Unions

1. A surname.

1. informalOxford UniversityThe Oxford Union (a debating society); not to be conflated with Oxford University Student Union (a students' union).