means A lobby is the entrance hall or waiting area of a building, or — as a verb — the act of pressing politicians and officials to vote or act a certain way.

from From the Medieval Latin 'lobia' or 'lobium,' meaning a covered walk or portico — a cousin of 'lodge,' both tracing back to a Germanic root for a shelter or leafy arbor. The political sense grew from the literal place: the lobbies of legislative buildings, where members of the public would buttonhole lawmakers as they passed through. By the 19th century, to wait in those halls hoping to sway a vote became 'lobbying,' and the people who made a profession of it, 'lobbyists.' The folk tale that it all started in the lobby of a particular Washington hotel is a charming exaggeration — the word and the practice were already at work in Britain first.