pocket borough
Americannoun
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(before the Reform Bill of 1832) any English borough whose representatives in Parliament were controlled by an individual or family.
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an election district under the control of an individual, family, or group.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pocket borough
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
Stanley inherited from his father Alfred the thriving steel works of Baldwins, Ltd., a directorship of the Great Western Railway, and the pocket borough of Bewdley in Worcestershire.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yet for generations Lisburn has been a pocket borough, and the nominee of the landlord, often a total stranger, was returned as a matter of course.
From The Land-War In Ireland (1870) A History For The Times by Godkin, James
Pitt continued at his post; and at the general election which took place during the year he even accepted a nomination for the duke’s pocket borough of Aldborough.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various
And Calne, Lord Lansdowne's pocket borough, was spared!
From Chippinge Borough by Weyman, Stanley J.
Fox first entered Parliament for the pocket borough of Midhurst, and Sir George Trevelyan has described how it took place.
From The Rise of the Democracy by Clayton, Joseph
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.
