Privilege
['prɪvɪlɪdʒ] or ['prɪvlɪdʒ]
Definition
(noun.) a special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by all.
(noun.) (law) the right to refuse to divulge information obtained in a confidential relationship.
(verb.) bestow a privilege upon.
Checked by Elmer--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity not enjoyed by others or by all; special enjoyment of a good, or exemption from an evil or burden; a prerogative; advantage; franchise.
(n.) See Call, Put, Spread, etc.
(v. t.) To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize; as, to privilege representatives from arrest.
(v. t.) To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver.
Checker: Presley
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Prerogative, right, claim, advantage, immunity, franchise, liberty, favor.
Checker: Uriah
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Prerogative, im-munity, franchise, right, liberty, advantage, claim, exemption
ANT:Disfranchisement, disqualification, exclusion, prohibition, inhibition
Editor: Maynard
Definition
n. an advantage to an individual: a right enjoyed only by a few: freedom from burdens borne by others: prerogative: a sacred and vital civil right: (Shak.) superiority.—v.t. to grant a privilege to: to exempt: to authorise license.—adj. Priv′ileged.—Breach of privilege any interference with or slight done to the rights or privileges of a legislative body; Question of privilege any question arising out of the rights of an assembly or of its members; Writ of privilege an order for the release of a person from custody.
Checker: Lucille
Examples
- If such is the case, and Mr. Micawber forfeits no privilege by entering on these duties, my anxiety is set at rest. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He said he had entreated her to favour him by maintaining her privilege of fixing the time for the marriage at her own will and pleasure. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He described this republic; shewed how it gave privilege to each individual in the state, to rise to consequence, and even to temporary sovereignty. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- For a time it was my privilege to work under him on an investigation of the Money Power. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- You think we live ON the rich, rather than with them: and so we do, in a sense--but it's a privilege we have to pay for! Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- An average size ocean liner pays about $5,000 for the privilege of sailing through this great ditch. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- But the beneficiaries of privilege, the Bourbon reactionaries, the short-sighted ultra-conservatives, turned down Turgot; and then found that instead of him they had obtained Robespierre. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Thou knowest best thine own privileges, said De Bracy. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I had as many privileges as any boy in the village, and probably more than most of them. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- There are no privileges, no rebates, and no excuses in the Kingdom of Heaven. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Once clear of the grounds, the duties of hospitality (in Betteredge's code of morals) ceased, and the privileges of curiosity began. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- You'll get your privileges soon enough,' retorted the jailer, 'and pepper with 'em. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Such companies, whether regulated or joint-stock, sometimes have, and sometimes have not, exclusive privileges. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Those masters do not appear to have had either salaries or exclusive privileges of any kind. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The doors of Skuytercliff were rarely and grudgingly opened to visitors, and a chilly week-end was the most ever offered to the few thus privileged. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- Each watch had its own individuality as a separate creation, and only the privileged few were able to carry them. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Our modern idea, that any one in the state is a citizen, would have shocked the privileged democrats of Athens profoundly. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Those privileged to enter it shivered there, and spoke of it as handsome. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- The reader is privileged to remain, and try what he can make of the discourse. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- This is considered as a privileged place, and stands like the land of Goshen amid the plagues of Egypt. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- We are privileged to enter that front door, and to penetrate to the domestic sanctum. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Editor: Paula