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grandfather clause definition

☆ grandfather clause

  1. a former law in some Southern states waiving electoral literacy requirements for those whose forebears voted before the Civil War, thus keeping the franchise for illiterate whites
  2. a clause in some legislation forbidding or regulating a certain activity, which exempts those already engaged in it before the legislation was passed

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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