subcommittee

/ˌsʌbkəˈmɪdi/

Other forms: subcommittees

When a big working group of people breaks down into smaller groups, those are subcommittees. In government, subcommittees help legislators focus on specific issues, like agriculture or education.

The word subcommittee adds the prefix sub-, or "under," to committee — the main committee, or group, is like an umbrella that encompasses every subcommittee below it. You might be on the "wacky candid photos" subcommittee of the Yearbook Club, meaning you're focusing on finding goofy pictures of your classmates, but you're also part of the larger yearbook group. U.S. senators who are on the Appropriations Committee will also be part of a subcommittee, like Science, Labor, or Energy.

Definitions of subcommittee

1. noun

   a subset of committee members organized for a specific purpose
   type of:

   commission, committee

   a special group delegated to consider some matter