legal
adjective
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Definition of legal
(Entry 1 of 2)
legal
nounDefinition of legal (Entry 2 of 2)
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Other Words from legal
Adjective
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adverb
Synonyms & Antonyms for legal
Synonyms: Adjective
lawful, legit [slang], legitimate, licit
Antonyms: Adjective
illegal, illegitimate, illicit, lawless, unlawful, wrongful
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Examples of legal in a Sentence
Adjective
She has a lot of legal problems. Do you know your legal rights? The amount of alcohol in his blood exceeded the legal limit. What you did was not legal. “Is it legal to fish in this river?” “Yes, it's perfectly legal.” The referee said it was a legal play.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Running afoul of one of these laws can lead to a huge legal nightmare that takes years to untangle. — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, "Everything You Need to Know About the Free-Range Parenting Method," 14 Mar. 2019 He is currently allowed to live there rent-free under certain legal loopholes in NYC's 1982 Loft Law, which was initially meant to protect struggling artists and low-income tenants from being evicted. — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "Here’s How Emily Ratajkowski Got Out of Paying Her $5k Rent," 5 Mar. 2019 In other words, to sue someone for breaking their NDA takes time and money, not to mention the commitment to engage in what might be a long, potentially public legal battle and a public backlash. — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "What Happens If You Break an NDA? Jordyn Woods Is Reportedly About to Find Out," 28 Feb. 2019 But the legal battles are subsiding, and groundbreaking is scheduled for late 2019. — Lesley M.m. Blume, Town & Country, "Inside Frank Gehry's Overhaul of Garden of Allah, L.A.’s Most Infamous Corner," 25 Feb. 2019 Huawei’s legal standing certainly isn’t as stable as its competition's. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Huawei refreshes the Matebook X Pro and adds a larger Matebook 14," 24 Feb. 2019 During that time, Jay became an NBC News legal analyst for high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson trial, according to The New York Times. — Michelle Manetti, Good Housekeeping, "Get to Know Katie Couric's Daughters and Husband Before Ellie Monahan's Wedding," 12 Feb. 2019 Markle may have spent a decade building for a career in television—eventually landing a major role on the legal drama Suits—but, her training was initially in theater. — Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, "How Meghan Markle's Acting Career Is Influencing Her Role in the Royal Family," 2 Feb. 2019 While about 95 percent of those bets will be placed illegally, legal betting is on the rise. — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, "Weirder Wagers: 7 Strange Ways You Can Bet on the Super Bowl," 30 Jan. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
At the very end of the show, rapper Rico Nasty strutted out with a should-be-legal rolled piece of paper between her fingers. — Nicole Phelps, Vogue, "Our Very Favorite Moments From the Fall 2019 Collections," 12 Mar. 2019 American Media agreed to give Ms. McDougal back the rights to her story as part of an April legal settlement, but the company insisted that the Men’s Journal cover go forward as planned. — WSJ, "Ex-Playmate Alleging Trump Affair to Get Men’s Journal Cover," 27 June 2018 With recreational or medical marijuana legal in 29 states and the nation’s capital, the pot industry employed 121,000 people in the U.S. last year. — David Goldstein And Anita Chabria, sacbee, "Pot businesses are on a hiring spree. Here’s how much the jobs pay," 8 June 2018 An extravagant legal row this week suggests there may be little time left for complacency. — The Economist, "Donald Trump’s powers are not quite as vast as his lawyers claim," 7 June 2018 Barrett has asked Columbia to refund her spring term rent and tuition, and originally turned to Equip for Equality, a disability legal and advocacy organization, for help. — Deanna Isaacs, Chicago Reader, "How many emotional support animals is too many?," 8 Apr. 2018 The number of people facing federal drug charges for marijuana violations in the 29 states that have made medical marijuana legal is not thought to be large. — Joel Rubin, latimes.com, "The feds seized guns, gold and 320 pot plants. So why did a judge rule they can't pursue marijuana charges?," 14 Aug. 2017 The suit was filed Friday (May 19) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and seeks legals costs and unspecified damages. — Marc Schneider, Billboard, "PayPal Sues Pandora Over 'Patently Unlawful' Logo," 22 May 2017 The state of Ohio, which made medical marijuana legal last September, is in the process of setting guidelines for the issuance of licenses for cultivation, processing and dispensing. — Jeff Piorkowski/special To Cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "University Heights Council learns more about medical marijuana; Swenson's Drive-in to present before Planning Commission," 16 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
'Positive', 'Cheat', and 7 Other Words...
'Positive', 'Cheat', and 7 Other Words from Law
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Dictionary Entries near legal
Statistics for legal
Last Updated
22 Mar 2019
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Time Traveler for legal
The first known use of legal was in the 15th century
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legal
adjective
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