Rotten borough

Rotten borough
Rotten Rot"ten, a. [Icel. rotinn; akin to Sw. rutten, Dan. radden. See {Rot}.] Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple; rotten meat. Hence: (a) Offensive to the smell; fetid; disgusting. [1913 Webster]

You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek of the rotten fens. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (b) Not firm or trusty; unsound; defective; treacherous; unsafe; as, a rotten plank, bone, stone. ``The deepness of the rotten way.'' --Knolles. [1913 Webster]

{Rotten borough}. See under {Borough}.

{Rotten stone} (Min.), a soft stone, called also Tripoli (from the country from which it was formerly brought), used in all sorts of finer grinding and polishing in the arts, and for cleaning metallic substances. The name is also given to other friable siliceous stones applied to like uses. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Putrefied; decayed; carious; defective; unsound; corrupt; deceitful; treacherous. [1913 Webster] -- {Rot"ten*ly}, adv. -- {Rot"ten*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Rotten borough — Borough Bor ough, n. [OE. burgh, burw, boru, port, town, burrow, AS. burh, burg; akin to Icel., Sw., & Dan. borg, OS. & D. burg, OHG. puruc, purc, MHG. burc, G. burg, Goth. ba[ u]rgs; and from the root of AS. beorgan to hide, save, defend, G.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Rotten Borough —   [ rɔtn bʌrə, englisch], Borough …   Universal-Lexikon

  • rotten borough — ► NOUN Brit. historical ▪ (before the Reform Act of 1832) a borough that was able to elect an MP though having very few voters …   English terms dictionary

  • rotten borough — n. 1. in England (before the Reform Act of 1832), a borough with only a few voters but with the right to send a representative to Parliament 2. any electoral district or political unit with greater representation than its population warrants …   English World dictionary

  • Rotten Borough — Der Begriff rotten borough (verfaulte Stadt) steht für Wahlkreise im Königreich England (vor 1707), dem Königreich Großbritannien (1707 1801), dem Königreich Irland (1541 1801) und dem Vereinigten Königreich von Großbritannien und Irland (ab… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rotten borough — Der Begriff rotten borough (verfaulte Stadt) steht für Wahlkreise im Königreich England (vor 1707), dem Königreich Großbritannien (1707–1801), dem Königreich Irland (1541–1801) und dem Vereinigten Königreich von Großbritannien und Irland (ab… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rotten Borough (novel) — Rotten Borough (ISBN 0947795839) was a book published by the British writer Oliver Anderson in 1937 and republished again in 1989 …   Wikipedia

  • rotten borough — 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… …   Universalium

  • rotten borough — noun A borough that was represented in Parliament although it had very few voters. See Also: safe seat …   Wiktionary

  • rotten borough — noun Brit. (before the Reform Act of 1832) a borough that was able to elect an MP though having very few voters …   English new terms dictionary

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