Definition of "agency" []

• The condition of being in action; operation. (noun)
• The means or mode of acting; instrumentality. (noun)
• A business or service authorized to act for others: an employment agency. (noun)
• An administrative division of a government or international body. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The auditors also criticized the Office of Thrift Supervision, the federal regulatory agency that oversees nationally chartered savings & loans, saying the agency  “did not adequately address Suburban’s problems early enough to prevent a material loss to the FDIC fund” and “did not adequately monitor the thrift’s actions through field visits” to ensure that any corrections regulators did suggest were actually made."
• "In this paper, the term agency is used generically to refer to agencies, bureaus, departments, commissions, and other entities."
• "The title agency reports that the average price for a single family home is down 4 percent from a year ago, to $$430,019, while through July, the median sold price for a single family home is down 3 percent from the same time a year ago, to $362,000. [email protected]"