gathering

conference, congress, assembly, meeting, rally, council, session, convention, gathering

这些名词均含有“会，会议”之意。
conference: 正式用词，一般指大型会议，如政府工作会议、国际学术交流会议、各国之间的协商、会谈等。
congress: 指国会、议会、代表大会等机构，尤指经选举产生的国家立法机构的大会或由这些机构召开的大会，也可指专业人员代表大会。
assembly: 多指一个通常有许多人参加、计划好的，为某一特殊目的而召集的会议。
meeting: 普通用词，词义广泛。指一般性的会议，可用于任何场合。
rally: 指大规模的群众性政治集会。
council: 在国际上多指由各国代表参加的政治会议，或常设的政治机构。在国内、地方上，此词多指常设的政务领导机构，如市政委员会等。
session: 一般指议会等召开的正式会议。
convention: 侧重指某一政党或团体为某一特殊目的而召开的会议；也可指学术团体的年会。
gathering: 指两人以上的聚会或集会，强调非正式性。

meeting, conference, gathering, party

这组名词都有“集会、会议”的意思。
meeting: 可以用于两人或多人，表示偶然的或拟定的，短暂的或持续的聚会，它的用途很广，可用于日常普通场合，也可用于特殊的或官方的正式场合。

• the students had a class meeting last friday.
  上周五学生们开了一次班会。
• the summit meeting of the state heads came to an end two days later.
  州官员间的峰会多持续了两天才结束。

conference: 指专门性的正式会议，常用于就某个重大问题进行专门研究或交换意见的讨论会、协商会等。

• many reporters came to attend the press conference.
  许多记者出席了这次媒体见面会。
• the annual conference of geologists will be held in chicago this year.
  地质学家们的年会明年将于芝加哥举行。

gathering: 一般指非正式的集会，常用于群众性的活动（像联欢会等）。

• a public gathering was held in zhongshan park on may day.
  五月一日中山公园有过一次公众集会。

party: 指社交性或娱乐性的集会。

• mary and i were invited to jane’s birthday party the other day.
  那天我和玛丽应邀参加了珍妮的生日聚会。

名词 gathering:

1. a group of persons together in one place
   同义词：assemblage
2. the social act of assembling
   同义词：assembly, assemblage
3. the act of gathering something
   同义词：gather
4. sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling tight a thread in a line of stitching
   同义词：gather

动词 gather:

1. assemble or get together
   同义词：gather, garner, collect, pull together
2. collect in one place
   同义词：meet, gather, assemble, forgather, foregather
3. collect or gather
   同义词：accumulate, cumulate, conglomerate, pile up, gather, amass
4. conclude from evidence
   同义词：gather
5. draw fabric together and sew it tightly
   同义词：gather, pucker, tuck
6. get people together
   同义词：assemble, gather, get together
7. look for (food) in nature
   同义词：gather

1. The movement to change the union's constitution is slowly gathering momentum.
   修改工会宪章的运动正慢慢加强。
2. The darkness is gathering.
   夜色渐浓。
3. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky. Heavy rain would come soon.
   乌云密布，大雨就要来临。
4. His recent death overshadowed the family gathering.
   他最近去世给家庭聚会蒙上了阴影。
5. The arrival of the players from friendly countries juiced up the gathering.
   友好国家运动员们的到来，使集会的气氛活跃起来了。
6. The act of gathering in large numbers or of pushing forward.
   蜂涌，拥挤大量聚集在一起或向前推挤的行为
7. The United Nations assembly is a cosmopolitan gathering.
   联合国大会是一种世界性的集会。
8. We are invited to a small social gathering.
   我们被邀请参加一个小型社交聚会。