amendment

amend·ment | \ ə-ˈmen(d)-mənt

Definition of amendment

1a : the process of altering or amending a law or document (such as a constitution) by parliamentary or constitutional procedure rights that were granted by amendment of the Constitution

b : an alteration proposed or effected by this process a constitutional amendment

2 : the act of amending something : correction

3 : a material (such as compost or sand) that aids plant growth indirectly by improving the condition of the soil soil amendments

Synonyms What is a constitutional amendment? More Example Sentences Learn More about amendment

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What is a constitutional amendment?

An amendment is essentially a correction. It comes in many varieties, up to and including the process of altering something through either parliamentary or constitutional procedure. In the United States, the word is often used specifically of a change to the U.S. Constitution. A constitutional amendment may be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives or through a constitutional convention with majority votes in two-thirds of state legislatures. Once it is ratified by Congress, it must be approved by three-fourths (i.e., 38 of 50) of the states.

Examples of amendment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That amendment has cleared a Senate committee but not yet the full Senate. — oregonlive, "Ron Wyden on Douglas County’s premium travel: “One set of rip-offs is one too many”," 18 Jan. 2020 Wiener introduced amendments this month that would allow cities to circumvent some of SB50’s major provisions by coming up with their own development plans to increase housing. — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, "Key California housing bill’s chances of passing just improved dramatically," 17 Jan. 2020 The amendment didn't specifically outlaw the consumption of alcohol, though, so people stockpiled reserves of their favorite drinks. — Leah Asmelash, CNN, "One hundred years ago today, Prohibition began," 17 Jan. 2020 The solution lies in recognizing that Blaine amendments are discriminatory on their face. — Michael A. Helfand, WSJ, "Discrimination Without Discriminating?," 17 Jan. 2020 Organizations like the American Federation of Labor and the Women’s Trade Union League feared the amendment would force poor women and families into starvation. — Fabiola Cineas, The New Republic, "The Equal Rights Amendment May Have Found Its Moment," 16 Jan. 2020 State law says the charter can only be amended by voters in a charter-amendment election. — Joshua Fechter, ExpressNews.com, "Proposal for San Antonio’s independent ethics czar, ethics code changes makes headway," 16 Jan. 2020 The issue of gun control in Virginia is playing out along demographic lines as urban voters demand action on gun violence while rural Virginians believe their second amendment rights are being infringed upon. — Spencer Neale, Washington Examiner, "‘Assault on the Second Amendment’: Virginia Senate passes three gun control bills," 16 Jan. 2020 Brown’s amendment would expand the exception to a right to bail to cover Class A felonies involving danger to the victim, like first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and murder charges that are not capital offenses. — Mike Cason | Mcason@al.com, al, "Sen. Cam Ward sponsoring bill to deny bail on most serious charges," 15 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'amendment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

20 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Amendment.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Amendments. Accessed 25 January 2020.

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More Definitions for amendment

amendment

noun

amend·ment | \ ə-ˈmend-mənt

Kids Definition of amendment

: a change in wording or meaning especially in a law, bill, or motion

amendment

noun

amend·ment

Legal Definition of amendment

1 : an act of amending especially : an alteration in wording amendments to cure the defect in the pleading

2 : an alteration proposed or put into effect by parliamentary or constitutional procedure the Congress…shall propose amendments to this Constitution — U.S. Constitution art. V

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