founding father

Definition of founding father

1 : an originator of an institution or movement : founder

2 often capitalized both Fs : a leading figure in the founding of the U.S. specifically : a member of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787

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Examples of founding father in a Sentence

a tribute to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founding Fathers Theodor Herzl is often credited as the founding father of modern Zionism.

Recent Examples on the Web Philosopher John Locke is credited with popularizing the idea amongst the founding fathers. — Nicole Goodkind, Fortune, "Why Democratic Candidates Keep Talking About Declaring a State of Emergency," 21 Dec. 2019 Set in rough-and-tumble contemporary New York City, this production features a dozen dancers, athletic hip-hop choreography, street moves, acrobatic break dancing and a show-opening set by hip-hop founding father Kurtis Blow. — Greg Crawford, Freep.com, "Detroit's Top 10: Cool things to do this weekend, including Mannheim Steamroller, Santarchy, 'Rise of Skywalker'," 18 Dec. 2019 Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un's grandfather and North Korea's founding father, is also believed to have led a cavalry unit against the Japanese occupation from a base on the mountain. — Joshua Berlinger, CNN, "North Korea warns US to prepare for 'Christmas gift,' but no one's sure what to expect," 4 Dec. 2019 Various Artists, Hamilton Original Cast Album (2015) Yes, this Broadway hip-hop redux is the story of America’s founding fathers, but the decade-dominating Hamilton is really an obsession with death and pain. — Billboard Staff, Billboard, "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks," 19 Nov. 2019 Meanwhile, on the left, the once-mighty Labor party (six seats), whose members included many of Israel’s founding fathers, has withered in recent years as Netanyahu’s Likud has come to dominate the country’s politics. — Zachary Evans, National Review, "Making Sense of Israel’s Post-Election Political Chaos," 20 Sep. 2019 One of the founding fathers of The Woodlands, Roger Galatas died on Aug. 29. — Jeff Forward, Houston Chronicle, "Year in Review: Local Woodlands figures who were in the news," 20 Dec. 2019 Most of the founding fathers were grad students at local universities. — Myrna Petlicki, chicagotribune.com, "Muslim Community Center celebrates 50th anniversary," 11 Dec. 2019 Rothman is one of a small handful now fighting to remember the two men who arguably served as the founding fathers of America's domestic slave trade. — Hannah Natanson, Anchorage Daily News, "They were once America’s cruelest, richest slave traders. Why does no one know their names?," 17 Sep. 2019

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

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16 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Founding father.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/founding%20father. Accessed 18 January 2020.

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founding father

noun