states' rights

1. 1.

   a doctrine that federal powers should be curtailed and returned to the individual states

   Broaderdoctrine

   Narrowernullification
2. 2.

   the rights conceded to the states by the United States constitution

   Broaderright

   plural

Questions about states' rights

What does states' rights mean?

states' rights means "a doctrine that federal powers should be curtailed and returned to the individual states". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.