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roorback

(ro̵or′bak′)

noun

a false or slanderous story devised for political effect, esp. against a candidate for office

Origin: after the imaginary author of a nonexistent book, Roorback's Tour, etc. containing spurious charges against candidate James Knox Polk

See roorback in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A false or slanderous story used for political advantage.

Origin:

Origin: After Baron von Roorback, imaginary author of Roorback's Tour Through the Western and Southern States, from which a passage was purportedly quoted in an attempt to disparage presidential candidate James K. Polk in 1844

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