conference

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A meeting for consultation or discussion.
• noun An exchange of views.
• noun A meeting of committees to settle differences between two legislative bodies.
• noun An assembly of clerical or of clerical and lay members from a particular district in various Protestant churches.
• noun Sports An association of teams.
• noun The act of conferring, as of an academic degree.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Comparison; examination of things by comparison.
• noun The act of conferring or consulting together; a meeting for consultation, discussion, or instruction; an interview and comparison or interchange of opinions.
• noun In British and American parliamentary usage, a species of negotiation between the two houses of Parliament or of Congress, conducted by managers appointed on both sides, for the purpose of reconciling differences.
• noun Eccles.: The annual assembly of ministers of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in England, for transacting business of an ecclesiastical nature.
• noun In the Meth. Epis. Ch. of America, the title of four judicatories: (i.) An assembly, called the general conference, which meets once every four years, is composed of ministerial and lay delegates from the annual conferences, and is presided over by a general superintendent.
• noun (ii.) One of a number (now over 100) of assemblies, called annual conferences, which meet annually, take cognizance of ecclesiastical matters, collect statistics relating to the church, and have charge of benevolent contributions, current expenses, etc.
• noun (iii.) An assembly of the itinerant and local preachers, the exhorters, the stewards of a district, and a class-leader and Sunday-school superintendent from each pastoral charge, called the district conference, meeting annually or semi-annually.
• noun (iv.) An assembly, termed the quarterly conference, of all the itinerant and local preachers, exhorters. stewards, class-leaders, trustees of churches, and first superintendents of Sunday-schools, in a circuit or station, under the presidency of a presiding elder. It hears complaints and appeals, examines into the character of preachers, licenses ministers, tries those against whom charges are preferred, and makes appointments and removals.
• noun In the Rom. Cath. Ch.: (i.) A voluntary local assembly of priests; a pastoral conference.
• noun (ii.) An assembly of priests called by a college; a chapter conference.
• noun In some Protestant churches, as the Congregational, a local assembly of representatives from several neighboring churches.
• noun Discourse; talk; conversation.
• noun A lecture.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun obsolete The act of comparing two or more things together; comparison.
• noun The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views.
• noun A meeting for consultation, discussion, or an interchange of opinions.
• noun A meeting of the two branches of a legislature, by their committees, to adjust between them.
• noun (Methodist Church) A stated meeting of preachers and others, invested with authority to take cognizance of ecclesiastical matters.
• noun A voluntary association of Congregational churches of a district; the district in which such churches are.
• noun [U. S.] a meeting for conference. Specifically, a meeting conducted (usually) by laymen, for conference and prayer.
• noun [U. S.] a room for conference and prayer, and for the pastor's less formal addresses.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun politics A multilateral diplomatic negotiation.
• noun sciences A formalized event where scientists present their research results in speeches, workshops, posters or by other means.
• noun business An event organized by a for-profit or non-profit organization to discuss a pressing issue -- like a new product, market trend or government regulation -- with a range of speakers.
• noun sports A group of sports teams that play each other on a regular basis.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic
• noun a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda)
• noun an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members