Hustings

Word of the Day for Thursday, September 20, 2012

Hustings \HUHS-tingz\, noun:

1. The political campaign trail.
2. (Before 1872) the temporary platform on which candidates for the British Parliament stood when nominated and from which they addressed the electors.
3. Any place from which political campaign speeches are made.
4. Also called hustings court. A local court in certain parts of Virginia.

But he still had to go out to the hustings, a word whose meaning he'd never learned, and campaign for people, or at least give speeches.
-- Tom Clancy, Executive Orders

Now, do not let them lure you to the hustings, my dear Mr. Brooke.
-- George Eliot, Middlemarch

Hustings is derived from the Old Danish word hūs-thing which meant "house meeting." 

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com