1. to attack or defeat a political nominee or candidate unfairly through an organized campaign of harsh public criticism or vilification
Usage: informal; chiefly U.S. politics; derived from Robert Bork, whose 1987 Supreme Court nomination was rejected after intense opposition

Examples

• The opposition party attempted to bork the judicial nominee by raising controversial statements from decades past.
• Critics worried that the confirmation process had become too partisan and that any nominee could be borked.
• The media campaign to bork the candidate backfired when voters saw it as unfair.
• Some argue that the Senate has borked several qualified nominees in recent years.
• The nominee's supporters prepared for a potential borking by gathering character witnesses.