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Poor law   /pur lɔ/   Listen
adjective
Poor  adj.  (compar. poorer; superl. poorest)  
1.
Destitute of property; wanting in material riches or goods; needy; indigent. Note: It is often synonymous with indigent and with necessitous denoting extreme want. It is also applied to persons who are not entirely destitute of property, but who are not rich; as, a poor man or woman; poor people.
2.
(Law) So completely destitute of property as to be entitled to maintenance from the public.
3.
Hence, in very various applications: Destitute of such qualities as are desirable, or might naturally be expected; as:
(a)
Wanting in fat, plumpness, or fleshiness; lean; emaciated; meager; as, a poor horse, ox, dog, etc. "Seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed."
(b)
Wanting in strength or vigor; feeble; dejected; as, poor health; poor spirits. "His genius... poor and cowardly."
(c)
Of little value or worth; not good; inferior; shabby; mean; as, poor clothes; poor lodgings. "A poor vessel."
(d)
Destitute of fertility; exhausted; barren; sterile; said of land; as, poor soil.
(e)
Destitute of beauty, fitness, or merit; as, a poor discourse; a poor picture.
(f)
Without prosperous conditions or good results; unfavorable; unfortunate; unconformable; as, a poor business; the sick man had a poor night.
(g)
Inadequate; insufficient; insignificant; as, a poor excuse. "That I have wronged no man will be a poor plea or apology at the last day."
4.
Worthy of pity or sympathy; used also sometimes as a term of endearment, or as an expression of modesty, and sometimes as a word of contempt. "And for mine own poor part, Look you, I'll go pray." "Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing."
5.
Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek. "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Poor law, a law providing for, or regulating, the relief or support of the poor.
Poor man's treacle (Bot.), garlic; so called because it was thought to be an antidote to animal poison. (Eng)
Poor man's weatherglass (Bot.), the red-flowered pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), which opens its blossoms only in fair weather.
Poor rate, an assessment or tax, as in an English parish, for the relief or support of the poor.
Poor soldier (Zool.), the friar bird.
The poor, those who are destitute of property; the indigent; the needy. In a legal sense, those who depend on charity or maintenance by the public. "I have observed the more public provisions are made for the poor, the less they provide for themselves."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Poor law" Quotes from Famous Books



... acting aide-de-camp to the parson, liable to be called out on duty at a moment's notice. No; a young man might with some advantage to others and credit to himself take upon himself the office of Parish Councillor, Poor Law Guardian, Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, High Sheriff, or even Public Hangman; but save, oh, save us from being churchwardens! To be obliged to attend those terrible institutions called "vestry meetings," and to receive each year an examination paper from the archdeacon of the diocese propounding ...
— A Cotswold Village • J. Arthur Gibbs
... right angles to St. Clement's Road, and in this there is a supplementary workhouse. It contains the relief office, large casual wards, the able-bodied workhouse, and a Poor Law Dispensary. Opposite are large Board Schools; the Roman Catholic Schools in the Silchester Road have been already mentioned in connection with the Catholic Schools of St. Francis. On the northern ...
— The Kensington District - The Fascination of London • Geraldine Edith Mitton
... menu for the evening; its back black with the scrawled notes I made of the discussion for my reply. I found it the other day among some letters from Margaret and a copy of the 1909 Report of the Poor Law Commission, also ...
— The New Machiavelli • Herbert George Wells
... thousand other papers, but some odd chance has preserved and brought with me to Italy the menu for the evening; its back black with the scrawled notes I made of the discussion for my reply. I found it the other day among some letters from Margaret and a copy of the 1909 Report of the Poor Law Commission, also rich ...
— The New Machiavelli • Herbert George Wells
... Coal or coke orders, 57. Nourishment 579. (Applause.) Pairs of boots granted, 29. Clothing, 105. Crutch granted to poor man, 1. Nurses provided, 2. Hospital tickets, 26. Sent to Consumption Sanatorium, 1. Twenty-nine persons, whose cases being chronic, were referred to the Poor Law Guardians. Work found for 19 persons. (Cheers.) Pedlar's licences, 4. Dispensary tickets, 24. Bedding redeemed, 1. Loans granted to people to enable them to pay their rent, 8. (Loud cheers.) Dental tickets, 2. Railway fares for men who were going away from the town to employment ...
— The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists • Robert Tressell


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