Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To form or gather into a mass or whole.
  • intransitive verb To form into or merge with a corporate conglomerate.
  • intransitive verb To cause to form into a mass or whole.
  • noun A corporation made up of a number of different companies that operate in diversified fields.
  • noun A collected heterogeneous mass; a cluster.
  • noun Geology A coarse-grained sedimentary rock consisting of rounded to subangular rock fragments cemented together by hardened silt, clay, calcium carbonate, or similar material.
  • adjective Gathered into a mass; clustered.
  • adjective Geology Made up of loosely cemented heterogeneous material.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To gather into a ball or round body; collect into a round mass.
  • To bring together into a mass or heap; collect and form into a whole, without regard to congruity or homogeneity; form a conglomeration of.
  • Gathered into a ball or round body; collected or clustered together.
  • In botany, densely clustered.
  • In entomology, gathered irregularly in one or more spots, instead of being distributed evenly over the surface: said of hairs, punctures, dots, etc.
  • Composed of heterogeneous or incongruous materials; conglomerated.
  • noun In geology, a rock made up of the rounded and water-worn debris of previously existing rocks, consisting, at least in part, of fragments large enough to be called pebbles. Also called conglomerate rock.
  • noun Anything composed of heterogeneous or incongruous materials.

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

  • adjective Gathered into a ball or a mass; collected together; concentrated.
  • adjective (Bot.) Closely crowded together; densly clustered.
  • adjective (Geol.) Composed of stones, pebbles, or fragments of rocks, cemented together.
  • noun That which is heaped together in a mass or conpacted from various sources; a mass formed of fragments; collection; accumulation.
  • noun (Geol.) A rock, composed or rounded fragments of stone cemented together by another mineral substance, either calcareous, siliceous, or argillaceous; pudding stone; -- opposed to agglomerate. See Breccia.
  • transitive verb To gather into a ball or round body; to collect into a mass.

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

  • noun A cluster of heterogeneous things.
  • noun business A corporation formed by the combination of several smaller corporations whose activities are unrelated to the corporation's primary activity.
  • noun geology A rock consisting of gravel or pebbles embedded in a matrix.
  • adjective Clustered together into a mass.
  • verb To combine together into a larger mass.
  • verb business To combine together into a larger corporation.

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

  • verb collect or gather
  • adjective composed of heterogeneous elements gathered into a mass
  • noun a group of diverse companies under common ownership and run as a single organization
  • noun a composite rock made up of particles of varying size

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin conglomerāre, conglomerāt- : com-, com- + glomerāre, to wind into a ball (from glomus, glomer-, ball).]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word conglomerate.

Examples

  • Uranium One, a Canadian company mired in controversy over its proposed purchase by a Russian mining conglomerate, is divesting itself of its Colorado mining interests because of "all the politics and all the local sentiment" against uranium mining in the state, an executive told the Colorado Independent recently.

    Uranium One, Eyed For Russian Purchase, Divesting From Colorado The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Pershing also said it has taken an 11% stake in conglomerate Fortune Brands, the maker of Jim Beam bourbon, Moen faucets and Titleist golf balls.

    Business Watch 2010

  • Tech conglomerate is likely to partner with other large multinational companies around the world.

    What are 2010's promises, pitfalls? 2009

  • PT Indo Tirta Suaka, a pig farm owned by Indonesia's biggest conglomerate, is taking methane released from manure and turning it into power.

    Indonesian Businesses Find Savings Through Emission Reduction Plans 2010

  • *** Transportation Hitachi, the Japanese technology conglomerate, is in talks with firms in India and Brazil with the aim of finding local partners for tie-ups in railway operations within a year, a senior company executive said, as it looks to take on more powerful European and North American rivals.

    Business Watch 2010

  • THR reports that Rupert Murdoch (aka Australian Beezlebub) said during his quarterly earnings call today that the conglomerate is in “very early talks about [a sequel].”

    Fox Begins Early Discussions for AVATAR 2 – Collider.com 2010

  • The conglomerate is joining with Harbin Electric Machinery Co. to make GE-designed onshore and offshore wind turbines.

    GE Expands in China Paul Glader 2010

  • The entertainment conglomerate is still run by McMahon's husband, Vince.

    Lois Romano's campaign highlights Post 2010

  • PT Indo Tirta Suaka, a pig farm owned by Indonesia's biggest conglomerate, is taking methane released from manure and turning it into power.

    Indonesian Businesses Find Savings Through Emission Reduction Plans 2010

  • Gannett, the nation's most predatory newspaper conglomerate, is still trying to take over the rack distribution business.

    Archive 2006-05-01 David 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.