rotten borough

American  

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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rotten borough British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of rotten borough

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

His "rotten borough," with its immemorial animalism, its "idiot," its saints, is propaganda of the universal order.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unfortunately for his own peace of mind, Mr. Gordon identified himself with a rotten borough.

From Western Worthies A Gallery of Biographical and Critical Sketches of West of Scotland Celebrities by Jeans, J. Stephen (James Stephen)

Whitchurch was another famous posting centre and, like Andover, a rotten borough.

From Wanderings in Wessex An Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter by Holmes, Edric

The electors for the borough of Southwark rejected Mr. Tierney, and he was obliged to come in for a ministerial rotten borough.

From Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 2 by Hunt, Henry

A few of the townspeople, humiliated at seeing their town always treated as a rotten borough, joined the democrats, though enemies to democracy.

From The Deputy of Arcis by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott