Definition of legal
1 : of or relating to law She has many legal problems.
2a : deriving authority from or founded on law : de jure a legal governmentb : having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact : titular a corporation is a legal but not a real personc : established by law; especially : statutory the legal test of mental capacity — K. C. Masteller
3 : conforming to or permitted by law or established rules The referee said it was a legal play. Fishing in this lake is legal.
4 : recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity
5 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members a bottle … that some legal friend had sent him — J. G. Cozzens
6 : created by the constructions of the law A legal fiction is something assumed in law to be a fact regardless of the truth of that assumption.
From the M-W Editors
Examples of legal in a Sentence
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 of legal from the Web
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Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly told lawmakers last week that legal advisers have warned him that DACA probably would not survive a court challenge.
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The more successful that strategy, the more Amazon can monopolize the attention and shopping dollars of its customers — which, of course, is perfectly legal.
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The fabric of the United States legal system is bound together by every citizen’s right to an unbiased, timely trial.
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Federal campaigns are allowed to pay legal fees incurred in any proceeding involving allegations concerning the candidate’s campaign activities or duties as a federal officeholder.
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But now, couples are taking legal measures to create their own familial identities.
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This comes as Trump has moved to limit H-1B visas and sharply decrease legal immigration in general.
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Legal experts are deeply concerned about what this means for American democracy.
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In both cases, Holmes pointed out, the Air Force had no legal authority to actually do anything about the drones, particularly to shoot them down.
These 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.
Origin and Etymology of legal
Anglo-French, from Latin legalis, from leg-, lex law
Synonym Discussion of legal
Other Legal Terms
legal
Definition of legal
: one that conforms to rules or the law
Origin and Etymology of legal
see 1legal
Other Legal Terms
LEGAL Defined for English Language Learners
legal
playDefinition of legal for English Language Learners
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: of or relating to the law
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: based on the law
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: allowed by the law or by the rules in a game
LEGAL Defined for Kids
legal
playDefinition of legal for Students
1 : of or relating to law or lawyers legal books
2 : based on law a legal right
3 : allowed by law or rules legal conduct a legal play in a game
legally
adverbLaw Dictionary
legal
playLegal Definition of legal
1 : of or relating to law or the processes of law a legal question take legal action
2a : deriving authority from or founded on law a legal tariff rate a legal government b : fulfilling the requirements of law a legal voter c : having a status derived from law : recognized as such by law a legal certainty d : created by operation of especially statutory law legal incompetence a legal presumption — compare conventional 1, judicial 2 e : established by law the legal test for mental capacity
3 : conforming to or permitted by law : lawful a referendum to make gambling legal
4 : recognized or made effective under principles of law as distinguished from principles of equity : deriving from or existing or valid in law as distinguished from equity — see also equity — compare equitable
5a : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or one of its members a corporate legal department the legal community b : of or relating to the study of law continuing legal education
legally
adverbOrigin and Etymology of legal
Latin legalis, from leg- lex law
Learn More about legal
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See words that rhyme with legal Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for legal Spanish Central: Translation of legal Nglish: Translation of legal for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of legal for Arabic speakers
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