GRANDFATHER CLAUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An exemption based on circumstances existing prior to the adoption of some policy; used to enfranchise illiterate whites in south after the American Civil War

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("grandfather clause" is a kind of...):

exemption; freedom (immunity from an obligation or duty)

Credits