borough : Idioms & Phrases

Index

borough english

  • noun a former English custom by which the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
WordNet

borough-english

Bor"ough-Eng"lish noun
Definitions
  1. (Eng. Law) A custom, as in some ancient boroughs, by which lands and tenements descend to the youngest son, instead of the eldest; or, if the owner have no issue, to the youngest brother. Blackstone.
Webster 1913

Close borough

  • . See under Borough.
Webster 1913

Close borough, ∨ Pocket borough

  • a borough having the right of sending a member to Parliament, whose nomination is in the hands of a single person.
Webster 1913

Free-borough men

  • (O.Eng. Law). See Friborg.
Webster 1913

Pocket borough

  • noun a sparsely populated borough in which all or most of the land is owned by a single family
WordNet
  • a borough "owned" by some person. See under Borough. Eng.
Webster 1913

Rotten borough

  • noun an English parliamentary constituency with few electors
WordNet
  • a name given to any borough which, at the time of the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, contained but few voters, yet retained the privilege of sending a member to Parliament.
Webster 1913

third-borough

Third"-bor`ough noun
Definitions
  1. (O. Eng. Law) An under constable. Shak. Johnson.
Webster 1913