Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Audience \Au"di*ence\, n. [F. audience, L. audientia, fr. audire
   to hear. See {Audible}, a.]
   1. The act of hearing; attention to sounds.

            Thou, therefore, give due audience, and attend.
                                                  --Milton.

   2. Admittance to a hearing; a formal interview, esp. with a
      sovereign or the head of a government, for conference or
      the transaction of business.

            According to the fair play of the world, Let me have
            audience: I am sent to speak.         --Shak.

   3. An auditory; an assembly of hearers. Also applied by
      authors to their readers.

            Fit audience find, though few.        --Milton.

            He drew his audience upward to the sky. --Dryden.

   {Court of audience}, or {Audience court} (Eng.), a court long
      since disused, belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury;
      also, one belonging to the Archbishop of York. --Mozley &
      W.

   {In general} (or {open}) {audience}, publicly.

   {To give audience}, to listen; to admit to an interview.

Popularly, the title General is given to various general
officers, as General, Lieutenant general, Major general,
Brigadier general, Commissary general, etc. See {Brigadier
general}, {Lieutenant general}, {Major general}, in the
Vocabulary.

   3. (Mil.) The roll of the drum which calls the troops
      together; as, to beat the general.

   4. (Eccl.) The chief of an order of monks, or of all the
      houses or congregations under the same rule.

   5. The public; the people; the vulgar. [Obs.] --Shak.

   {In general}, in the main; for the most part.

Source : WordNet®

in general
     adj : considered altogether; "the country at large"; "I enjoyed
           the play as a whole though I thought the acting could
           have been better" [syn: {as a whole(ip)}, {at large(ip)},
            {in general(ip)}]
     adv : without distinction of one from others; "he is interested in
           snakes in general" [syn: {generally}, {in the main}]
           [ant: {specifically}]