01 n. In England, an incorporated town that is not a city; also, a town that sends members to parliament; in Scotland, a body corporate, consisti…
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1.
In England, an incorporated town that is not a city; also, a town that sends members to parliament; in Scotland, a body corporate, consisting of the inhabitants of a certain district, erected by the sovereign, with a certain jurisdiction; in America, an incorporated town or village, as in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
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2.
The collective body of citizens or inhabitants of a borough; as, the borough voted to lay a tax.
Phrases & compounds
Close borough —
a borough having the right of sending a member to Parliament, whose nomination is in the hands of a single person.
Rotten borough —
a name given to any borough which, at the time of the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, contained but few voters, yet retained the privilege of sending a member to Parliament.