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Powers that be

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being faceless or unreasonably bureaucratic. idiomatic, plural, plural-only

    "[I]t appeared as though the hospital at Barchester would fall into abeyance, unless the powers that be should take some steps towards putting it once more into working order."

Etymology

After Romans 13:1 in the Tyndale Bible and the King James Version. The phrase is a translation of the Ancient Greek αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι (hai oûsai exousíai, “the existing authorities”). “Be” is the archaic third-person plural present indicative form, equivalent to the modern “are”, not a subjunctive.

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