conglomeration

/kən,glɔmə'reiʃn/
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conglomeration

A child builds a colorful conglomeration of different building blocks.

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • The act or process of gathering or forming into a mass: "conglomeration" can refer to the action of combining various, often disparate, items into a single, often shapeless, whole.
    • A cohering mass or cluster of varied elements: It also denotes the resulting entity itself—a collection of many different things brought or lumped together.
    • A rounded, spherical mass: In a more specific sense, it can describe a physical object with a rounded, aggregated form.
Usage and Examples
  • Noun:
    • The city was a fascinating conglomeration of old and new architecture. (The city was a fascinating mass combining old and new buildings.)
    • His theory is a conglomeration of ideas from several different philosophers. (His theory is a combined total of ideas from several different sources.)
    • The geologist showed us a conglomeration of pebbles and sand cemented together. (The geologist showed us a rounded mass formed from pebbles and sand.)
Advanced Usage
  • "A conglomeration of": This is the most common collocation, used to introduce the diverse elements that make up the whole.
    • The dish was a strange conglomeration of flavors. (The dish was a strange combination of different tastes.)
  • Used to imply a lack of organization or a haphazard mixture.
    • The report was not a coherent analysis but a mere conglomeration of data. (The report was just a jumbled collection of information, not a proper analysis.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Conglomerate (verb): To gather into a mass or coherent whole.
    • Smaller companies often conglomerate to compete with larger corporations.
  • Conglomerate (noun): A large corporation formed by merging diverse companies; also, a rock consisting of rounded fragments cemented together.
    • The media conglomerate owns several television networks and publishing houses.
  • Conglomeratic (adj): Having the nature of a conglomerate.
Synonyms
  • Agglomeration: A mass or collection of things.
  • Aggregation: A collection of items gathered together.
  • Amalgamation: The process of combining or uniting into one structure.
  • Assortment: A collection of various kinds of things.
  • Medley: A mixture, especially of diverse elements.
Antonyms
  • Separation: The action of moving or being moved apart.
  • Division: The process of separating something into parts.
  • Dissolution: The closing down or dismissal of an assembly or partnership.
Idioms and Phrases
  • While there are no common idioms using "conglomeration" itself, the concept is often expressed in phrases like:
    • A mixed bag: A collection of varied things or people.
    • A hodgepodge: A confused mixture; a hotchpotch.
conglomeration

A child builds a colorful conglomeration of different building blocks.

Noun
  1. an occurrence combining miscellaneous things into a (more or less) rounded mass
  2. a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together
  3. a rounded spherical form