Hustings

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hustings \Hus"tings\, n. pl. [OE. husting an assembly, coucil,
     AS. h?sting; of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. h?s?ing; h?s home +
     ?ing thing, assembly, meeting; akin to Dan. & Sw. ting, E.
     thing. See {House}, and {Thing}.]
     1. A court formerly held in several cities of England;
        specif., a court held in London, before the lord mayor,


        recorder, and sheriffs, to determine certain classes of
        suits for the recovery of lands within the city. In the
        progress of law reform this court has become unimportant.
        --Mozley & W.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any one of the temporary courts held for the election of
        members of the British Parliament.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly
        stood in addressing the electors. [Eng.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              When the rotten hustings shake
              In another month to his brazen lies.  --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hustings
       n : the activities involved in political campaigning (especially
           speech making)

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  HUSTINGS, Engl. law. The name of a court held before the lord mayor and 
  aldermen of London; it is the principal and supreme court of the city., See 
  2 Inst. 327; St. Armand, Hist. Essay on the Legisl. Power of England, 75.