Definition The resistance capacity of any material, but especially structural members, to crushing force. Compressive strength is usuallyexpressed as the maximum number of pounds per square inch that can be resisted without failure.
executive department-a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States. department of the federal government, federal department, federal office-a department of the federal government of the United States. EXEC, White House-the chief executive department of the United States government.
The federal bureaucracy is part of the executive branch, which means that the president exercises ultimate control over it. But managing a bureaucracy this large is too difficult for one person, so there is an agencyâthe Executive Office of the Presidentâthat assists the president in running the federal bureaucracy. The most critical members of the Executive Office work in the West Wing of the White House. More directly, the individual departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy are managed by officials appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.