hustings means A platform where candidates in an election give speeches; a husting. It carries an Arena rating of 1580, earned across 53 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, hustings ranks #812 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,838 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,376 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,419 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
hustings is pronounced /ˈhʌstɪŋz/.
Why “hustings” is a great word
HUSTINGS — [Noun] A platform or event where candidates present their views to voters. From Old English 'husting', borrowed from Old Norse 'húsþing' ("house assembly"), from 'hús' ("house") + 'þing' ("assembly, meeting"). Unlike a "campaign," which names the sprawling, strategic effort, or a "debate," a formal contest of argument, the hustings is the raw, local theatre of democracy. It is the splintered wood of a makeshift stage, the relentless shouted question from the back of a pub, the handshake that is both promise and calculation on a sunlit street—the ancient, demotic ritual where power must briefly stand, exposed to the weather of public scrutiny.
Etymology
Originally the plural of husting, later construed as a singular.
noun
- A platform where candidates in an election give speeches; a husting.e.g.“I now mounted the hustings, and, without any regard to decency or modesty, made as emphatical a speech in favour of the king as before I had done against him.” — 1749, Henry Fielding, From This World to the Next:
- An election campaign.e.g.“Washington is awfully deserted now that every congressman is out on the hustings.”
- A debate during an election campaign where the public can question some or all of the candidates.e.g.“The candidate was having a strong campaign but fell apart at the hustings.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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