n
1. a member of a British political party established in the late 17th century. The Whigs believed that Parliament should have more power than the king or queen, and supported the Hanoverian kings and queens against the Stuarts . They believed in religious freedom and political reforms. The Whigs, who were mainly rich businessmen and people who owned land in the country, were in power for the first half of the 18th century. In the 19th century they changed into the Liberal Party . Compare Tory .
2. a member of an American political party established in 1834 to oppose the Democrats . In the 1850s the party broke up and many of its members joined the new Republican Party .