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rotten borough

noun
  1. (before the Reform Bill of 1832) any English borough that had very few voters yet was represented in Parliament.
  2. an election district that has more representatives in a legislative body than the number of its constituents would normally call for.
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Origin of rotten borough

First recorded in 1805–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rotten borough

Historical Examples of rotten borough

  • Here I came up with my sons, and we entered the rotten-borough together.

    Rural Rides

    William Cobbett

British Dictionary definitions for rotten borough

rotten borough

noun
  1. (before the Reform Act of 1832) any of certain English parliamentary constituencies with only a very few electorsCompare pocket borough
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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