- national; especially in reference to the government of the United States as distinct from that of its member units;
"the Federal Bureau of Investigation" "federal courts" "the federal highway program" "federal property"
- of or relating to the central government of a federation;
"a federal district is one set aside as the seat of the national government"
- being of or having to do with the northern United States and those loyal to the Union during the American Civil War;
"Union soldiers" "Federal forces" "a Federal infantryman"
- characterized by or constituting a form of government in which power is divided between one central and several regional authorities;
"a federal system like that of the United States" "federal governments often evolved out of confederations"
