hustings

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

1. 1. A place where political campaign speeches are made: a candidate out on the hustings in the farm belt.
   2. The activities involved in political campaigning: a veteran of the hustings.
2. Chiefly British. A court formerly held in some English cities and still held infrequently in London.
3. Chiefly British.
   1. A platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood to address the electors.
   2. The proceedings of a parliamentary election.

[From Middle English husting, court of common pleas, from Old English hūsting, court, from Old Norse hūsthing : hūs, house + thing, assembly.]

(HUS-tingz)

noun
1. Political campaign trail.
2. A place where campaign speeches are made.
3. A local court formerly held in some localities in Britain and still occasionally held in London.
4. A local court in some parts of Virginia.

Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English husting, from Old Norse husthing, from hus (house) + thing (assembly)

Hustings is the British equivalent of the US word stump. Originally, campaigning politicians conveniently used the stump of a large tree to stand on and to speak from. Today, it's metaphorically used in expressions such as stump speech (campaign speech) or on the stump (on the campaign trail). Until 1872 Hustings was the raised platform from which candidates were nominated for the British Parliament, and where they addressed electors.

Usage
"By this time next Monday, after all the hurly-burly of the hustings is done, Malaysians would have cast their ballots in the country's 11th general election and the results will be known." — Warren Fernandez; Election Numbers to Watch; The Straits Times (Singapore); Mar 15, 2004.

"A lot can be learned about candidates from their speeches on the hustings: not what they say, but how they say it." — The Way He Talks; Economist (London, UK); Mar 4 2004.

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the activities involved in political campaigning (especially speech making)

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Dansk (Danish)
n., -
n. pl. - talertribune, valgkampagne

Nederlands (Dutch)
verkiezingscampagne, verkiezingstribune (historisch)

Français (French)
n. pl. - tribune, (fig) campagne électorale

Deutsch (German)
n. pl. - Wahlveranstaltungen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - ικρίωμα ή τόπος εκφώνησης προεκλογικού λόγου, προεκλογικός αγώνας

Italiano (Italian)
campagna elettorale, tribuna

Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - palanque (m) para campanha política

Русский (Russian)
главный городской суд Лондона, трибуна для предвыборных выступлений

Español (Spanish)
n. pl. - elecciones, tribuna electoral, plataforma

Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - valrörelse, valkampanj, talarstol, -tribun

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
选举手续, 政见发表会场

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 選舉手續, 政見發表會場
n. pl. - 選舉手續, 政見發表會場

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 선거 수속, 연설회장, 하급법원
n. pl. - 국회의원 후보자를 지명하는 명단

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 法廷, 演壇

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الجمع) محكمه محليه, منبر لتسميه المرشحين للانتخابات النيابيه أو لالقاء الخطب الانتخابيه, اجراءات حمله انتخابيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תעמולת בחירות‬
n. pl. - ‮תעמולת בחירות‬

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