poor law

noun

a law or system of laws providing for the relief or support of the poor at public expense.

Origin of poor law

First recorded in 1745–55

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for poor law

Historical Examples of poor law

The evil of a poor-law can be no longer averted from Scotland.
Leading Articles on Various Subjects
Hugh Miller
The general history of the poor-law is sufficiently familiar.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.
Leslie Stephen
Thence to the English poor-law and the workhouse is but a step.
The Conquest of Bread
Peter Kropotkin
Under this head also comes women's work as poor-law guardians.
History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III)
Various
He proposes, therefore, that the poor-law should be abolished.
The English Utilitarians, Volume II (of 3)
Leslie Stephen

British Dictionary definitions for poor law

poor law

noun

English history a law providing for the relief or support of the poor from public, esp parish, funds

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