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Corn Laws

British

plural noun

the laws introduced in Britain in 1804 to protect domestic farmers against foreign competition by the imposition of a heavy duty on foreign corn: repealed in 1846 See also Anti-Corn Law League

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Two hundred years earlier, people were going hungry in Middleton after the government introduced the Corn Laws, which imposed tariffs on imported grain, turning bread into the preserve of the rich.

From The Guardian • Aug. 16, 2019

The protesters, 60,000 to 80,000 strong according to contemporary estimates, marched under a broad banner of reform, demanding expanded suffrage, tax relief and repeal of the trade-inhibiting Corn Laws.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2019

The Corn Laws were simply tariffs, or taxes, that Parliament imposed on foreign grain.

From Time • Jun. 30, 2017

Peel resigned after winning - not losing - one of the biggest parliamentary battles in history, over the abolition of the Corn Laws.

From BBC • Jul. 13, 2016

We are on the verge of a crisis on the Corn Laws, and it is my duty to consider the question carefully.

From The Great House by Weyman, Stanley John

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023