Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Lobby

Lob′by, n.; pl. Lobbies (#). [LL. lobium, lobia, laubia, a covered portico fit for walking, fr. OHG. louba, G. laube, arbor. See Lodge.] 1. (Arch.) A passage or hall of communication, especially when large enough to serve also as a waiting room. It differs from an antechamber in that a lobby communicates between several rooms, an antechamber to one only; but this distinction is not carefully preserved.

2. That part of a hall of legislation not appropriated to the official use of the assembly; hence, the persons, collectively, who frequent such a place to transact business with the legislators; any persons, not members of a legislative body, who strive to influence its proceedings by personal agency. [U.S.]

3. (Naut.) An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.

4. (Agric.) A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges. trees, or other fencing, near the farmyard.

Lobby member, a lobbyist. [Humorous cant, U. S.]

Lob′by, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lobbied; p. pr. & vb. n. Lobbying.] To address or solicit members of a legislative body in the lobby or elsewhere, with the purpose to influence their votes.[U.S.] Bartlett.

Lob′by, v. t. To urge the adoption or passage of by soliciting members of a legislative body; as, to lobby a bill. [U.S.]

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.