take the Chiltern Hundreds

verb

To vacate one's seat in the House of Commons (since resignation is not permitted), under the legal fiction of being appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown": the ancient office of Crown Steward for the Chiltern Hundreds, in modern times a mere sinecure.

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Meanings

verbtake the Chiltern Hundreds (third-person singular simple present takes the Chiltern Hundreds, present participle taking the Chiltern Hundreds, simple past took the Chiltern Hundreds, past participle taken the Chiltern Hundreds)

present singular third person takes the Chiltern Hundreds · participle present taking the Chiltern Hundreds · past took the Chiltern Hundreds · participle past taken the Chiltern Hundreds

  1. UKgovernmentTo vacate one's seat in the House of Commons (since resignation is not permitted), under the legal fiction of being appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown": the ancient office of Crown Steward for the Chiltern Hundreds, in modern times a mere sinecure.
Cite this entry
APA

take the Chiltern Hundreds. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20Chiltern%20Hundreds

MLA

“take the Chiltern Hundreds.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20Chiltern%20Hundreds. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take the Chiltern Hundreds,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20Chiltern%20Hundreds.

Source: take the Chiltern Hundreds on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.