Definition of "department" []

• A distinct, usually specialized division of a large organization, especially: (noun)
• A principal administrative division of a government: the department of public works. (noun)
• A division of a business specializing in a particular product or service: the personnel department. (noun)
• A division of a school or college dealing with a particular field of knowledge: the physics department. (noun)
• One of the principal executive divisions of the federal government of the United States, headed by a cabinet officer. (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.

• "Calling the term department store "a dirty word," the executive, whose father is CEO, said, "We wanted to signal that we were up to something.""
• "But now the assayer came up, bringing with him a nice elaborate calculation on a black slate, showing exactly how much pure gold Onucz had handed in to the coining department, how much it would be worth when coined and deducting three per cent for expenses, how much he was to receive in cash by way of exchange."
• "He started out working in the title department at the Atlanta law firm Hansell Post Brandon"