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Business English vocabulary · Meetings

Floor

Meaning in business english, with examples

nounCommon term

In business english, floor means: The right to speak to the whole meeting.

In Turkish: söz hakkı

How it is used

Used in chaired discussions: someone has, takes or yields the floor. In this sense it does not mean the room's ground surface.

Example sentences

  1. The chair gave Mina the floor to explain why the delivery date had changed.

    Mina is being given a turn to address everyone, rather than permission to interrupt.

  2. You still have the floor, so please finish your question before we respond.

    The speaker retains the right to finish even though others are ready to answer.

Common collocations

  • have the floor
  • give someone the floor
  • yield the floor
  • chairTo lead a meeting by opening it, following the agenda, giving people turns to speak and keeping time. As a noun, the person who does this.
  • speak upTo speak more loudly so that others can hear you; also, to say openly what you think, especially about a problem.

More terms: Meetings

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