local option

noun

1. a right of choice exercised by a minor political division, as a county, especially as to allowing the sale of liquor.

local option

noun

1. (esp in Scotland, New Zealand, and the US) the privilege of a municipality, county, etc, to determine by referendum whether a particular activity, esp the sale of liquor, shall be permitted there

Word History and Origins

Origin of local option¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The Cheese Shop was the first eatery in Williamsburg to offer upscale meats and cheeses at a time when local options were pretty much limited to ye olde tavern fare and endless pancake houses.

From Washington Post

My research with Matthew Hitt of Colorado State University and Johanna Dunaway of Texas A&M University shows that when local newspapers close, people don’t find another local option.

From FiveThirtyEight

From there, you can choose to go with an online multiplayer, local co-op, or local options for folks in the same room.

From Popular-Science

The principle of local option, which is nothing but that of direct government by the people, is being everywhere accepted.

From Project Gutenberg

The abolition of drunkenness by local option is selfish, unpractical, and unscriptural.

From Project Gutenberg

It will not do to say that notwithstanding the local option law is in operation, liquor is still at the root of the evil.

From Project Gutenberg

He tells us that it was a kind of "local option" flood—a little wet for that part of the country.

From Project Gutenberg

Local option has kept a great many towns and counties "dry" for years, and it is a step toward wide-spread prohibition.

From Project Gutenberg