Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

enclosure act

American  

noun

English History.

  1. any of the acts of Parliament passed from 1709 to 1869, requiring that private lands be fenced off from common lands.

Etymology

Origin of enclosure act

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

No general enclosure act could be passed, though often suggested.

From The English Utilitarians, Volume I. by Stephen, Leslie, Sir

The remedy proposed was a general enclosure act; and such an act passed the House of Commons in 1798, but was thrown out by the Lords.

From The English Utilitarians, Volume I. by Stephen, Leslie, Sir

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.