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take the Chiltern Hundreds

Verb CEFR C2

Definitions

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.

UK

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

take the cloth take the con take the count take the coward's way out take the cross take the cure

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