Joint a.
 1. Joined; united; combined; concerted; as, joint action.
 2. Involving the united activity of two or more; done or produced by two or more working together.
    I read this joint effusion twice over.   --T. Hook.
 3. United, joined, or sharing with another or with others; not solitary in interest or action; holding in common with an associate, or with associates; acting together; as, joint heir; joint creditor; a joint bank account; joint debtor, etc. “Joint tenants of the world.”
 4. Shared by, or affecting two or more; held in common; as, joint property; a joint bond.
    A joint burden laid upon us all.   --Shak.
 Joint committee Parliamentary Practice, a committee composed of members of the two houses of a legislative body, for the appointment of which concurrent resolutions of the two houses are necessary. --Cushing.
 Joint meeting, or Joint session, the meeting or session of two distinct bodies as one; as, a joint meeting of committees representing different corporations; a joint session of both branches of a State legislature to chose a United States senator. “Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the electoral votes are all counted and the result declared.” --Joint Rules of Congress, U. S.
 Joint resolution Parliamentary Practice, a resolution adopted concurrently by the two branches of a legislative body. “By the constitution of the United States and the rules of the two houses, no absolute distinction is made between bills and joint resolutions.” --Barclay (Digest).
 Joint rule Parliamentary Practice, a rule of proceeding adopted by the concurrent action of both branches of a legislative assembly. “Resolved, by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that the sixteenth and seventeenth joint rules be suspended for the remainder of the session.” --Journal H. of R., U. S.
 Joint and several Law, a phrase signifying that the debt, credit, obligation, etc., to which it is applied is held in such a way that the parties in interest are engaged both together and individually thus a joint and several debt is one for which all the debtors may be sued together or either of them individually; used especially in the phrase joint and several liability.
 Joint stock, stock held in company.
 Joint-stock company Law, a species of partnership, consisting generally of a large number of members, having a capital divided, or agreed to be divided, into shares, the shares owned by any member being usually transferable without the consent of the rest.
 Joint tenancy Law, a tenure by two or more persons of estate by unity of interest, title, time, and possession, under which the survivor takes the whole. --Blackstone.
 Joint tenant Law, one who holds an estate by joint tenancy.  Contrassted with tenant in common.


 Res·o·lu·tion n.
 1. The act, operation, or process of resolving. Specifically: (a) The act of separating a compound into its elements or component parts. (b) The act of analyzing a complex notion, or solving a vexed question or difficult problem.
    The unraveling and resolution of the difficulties that are met with in the execution of the design are the end of an action.   --Dryden.
 2. The state of being relaxed; relaxation. [Obs.]
 3. The state of being resolved, settled, or determined; firmness; steadiness; constancy; determination.
    Be it with resolution then to fight.   --Shak.
 4. That which is resolved or determined; a settled purpose; determination.  Specifically: A formal expression of the opinion or will of an official body or a public assembly, adopted by vote; as, a legislative resolution; the resolutions of a public meeting.
 5. The state of being resolved or firm in opinion or thought; conviction; assurance. [Obs.]
    Little resolution and certainty there is as touching the islands of Mauritania.   --Holland.
 6. Math. The act or process of solving; solution; as, the resolution of an equation or problem.
 7. Med. A breaking up, disappearance; or termination, as of a fever, a tumor, or the like.
 8. Mus. The passing of a dissonant into a consonant chord by the rising or falling of the note which makes the discord.
 Joint resolution. See under Joint, a.
 Resolution of a force or Resolution of a motion Mech., the separation of a single force or motion into two or more which have different directions, and, taken together, are an equivalent for the single one; -- the opposite of composition of a force.
 Resolution of a nebula Astron., the exhibition of it to the eye by a telescope of such power as to show it to be composed of small stars.
 Syn: -- Decision; analysis; separation; disentanglement; dissolution; resolvedness; resoluteness; firmness; constancy; perseverance; steadfastness; fortitude; boldness; purpose; resolve. See Decision.

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 joint resolution
      n : a resolution passed by both houses of Congress which becomes
          legally binding when signed by the chief executive (or
          passed over the executive's veto)