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pocket borough

noun

A borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the burgage tenements (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.

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Meanings

nounpocket borough (plural pocket boroughs)

plural pocket boroughs

historicalA borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the burgage tenements (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.
Synonyms: close borough

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the burgage tenements (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pocket borough

borough thorough burgh kookaburra burra rotten borough royal burgh

Cite this entry

APA

pocket borough. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pocket%20borough

MLA

“pocket borough.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pocket%20borough. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pocket borough,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pocket%20borough.

Source: pocket borough on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.