prorogue

present singular third person prorogues · participle present proroguing · participle past prorogued · past prorogued

1. transitiveTo suspend (a parliamentary session) or to discontinue the meetings of (an assembly, parliament etc.) without formally ending the session.First known use 15th c.

   1 more example

   On 9 September, when Parliament was prorogued until 14 October [later reversed by the Supreme Court], spelling the end of 12 pieces of legislation, it emerged that the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill was one of only three bills which will be carried over into the new parliamentary session.

   2019 October, Dan Harvey, “HS2 costs rise as schedule slips”, in Modern Railways, page 9

2. archaictransitiveTo defer.First known use 15th c.

   Synonyms: defer, postpone

3. obsoleteTo prolong or extend.First known use 15th–18th c.

   Mirth[…]prorogues life, whets the wit, makes the body young, lively, and fit for any manner of employment.

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 6, subsection iv

   1 more example

   The King settled to prorogue Parliament until the Christmas holidays, and to do nothing else for the present.

   1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 20, in Friday's Business

   Synonyms: extend, prolong, protract