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foreign service

noun

(often initial capital letters)

a division of the U.S. Department of State or of a foreign office that maintains diplomatic and consular posts and personnel in other countries.

foreign service

noun

the diplomatic and usually consular personnel of a foreign affairs ministry or foreign office collectively who represent their country abroad, deal with foreign diplomats at home, etc

Foreign Service

The professional arm of the executive branch that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world. Ambassadors, though officially members of the Foreign Service, are sometimes friends of the president of the United States appointed in gratitude for support given during elections.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign service¹

First recorded in 1925–30

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And in the interest of eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse," the plan anticipates laying off career diplomats and civil service employees and replacing the foreign service exam for new criteria that includes “alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.”

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The goal of those fellowships has been to help students from underrepresented groups get a chance at entering the Foreign Service soon after graduation.

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Friday's order by US District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC came after a lawsuit was filed by American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees - two unions representing employees of the agency.

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"I see foreign service officers that have spent their entire lives serving - a large part of it overseas - and the sacrifices they made," they said.

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For the past three years, he says, India has maintained contact with the Taliban through a foreign service diplomat.

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foreign secretary foreign-trade zone

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