commission

Universal Words noun, verb noun official group 1 (often Commission) [C] an official group of people who have been given responsibility to control sth, or to find out about sth, usually for the government: the European Commission * (BrE) The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. * a commission on human rights money 2 [U,C] an amount of money that is paid to sb for selling goods and which increases with the amount of goods that are sold: You get a 10% commission on everything you sell. * He earned ｣2000 in commission last month. * In this job you work on commission (= are paid according to the amount you sell). 3 [U] an amount of money that is charged by a bank, etc. for providing a particular service: One per cent commission is charged for cashing traveller's cheques. for art / music, etc. 4 [C] a formal request to sb to design or make a piece of work such as a building or a painting: a commission to design the new parliament building in armed forces 5 [C] an officer's position in the armed forces: He resigned his commission when he got married. of crime 6 [U] (formal) the act of doing sth wrong or illegal: the commission of a crime IDIOMS in / out of commission available/not available to be used: Several of the airline's planes are temporarily out of commission and undergoing safety checks. verb piece of art / music, etc. 1 to officially ask sb to write, make or create sth or to do a task for you: [VNtoinf] She has been commissioned to write a new national anthem. * [VN] Publishers have commissioned a French translation of the book. * The survey on consumer taste was commissioned by local stores. in armed forces 2 [usuallypassive] ~ sb (as) sth to choose sb as an officer in one of the armed forces: [VN] She was commissioned in 1992. * [VN-N] He has just been commissioned (as a) pilot officer.