Definition of "hustings" []

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

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was called the hustings, and filled with benches; and at one end of it, where the benches ended, mats were laid, on which those who spoke to the people stood."
• "The highest court of civic judicature was the Hustings Court, so called from the Saxon word hustings, signifying the "house of things," or causes."
• "The first plate represents an election riot in front of the hustings, which is wild and fairly spirited."