legal
adjective
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Definition of legal
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : of or relating to law She has many legal problems.
2a : deriving authority from or founded on law : de jure a legal government
b : having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact : titular a corporation is a legal but not a real person
c : 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.
legal
nounDefinition of legal (Entry 2 of 2)
: one that conforms to rules or the law
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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
Keystone XL has already faced numerous legal and political hurdles, and has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who want to keep fossil fuels in the ground. — Miguel Bustillo, WSJ, "Keystone XL Pipeline Faces Uncertain Future," 9 Nov. 2018 Maine voters overwhelmingly approved the expansion in a ballot initiative last year, but archconservative LePage used every legal and procedural quirk in the book to slow it down. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "Democratic wins in these 9 states will have seismic policy consequences," 9 Nov. 2018 To win approval, the company had to run a demographically representative study proving that 97 percent of users understand that the test is not a medical recommendation, says 23andMe chief legal and regulatory officer Kathy Hibbs. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "23andMe’s genetic test for how you’ll react to medication is ahead of its time," 2 Nov. 2018 Open to legal residents of the 50 United States/D.C. 21 or older, except employees of Sponsor, their immediate families and those living in the same household. — Condé Naste Traveler: Post, "Discover Dallas Sweepstakes," 26 Oct. 2018 The Transgender Law Center is also led by trans people, for trans people who need legal representation. — Megan Lasher, Seventeen, "Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People WILL NOT Be Erased," 22 Oct. 2018 Despite these mechanisms of political and legal intimidation, everyday folks have continued to persevere, from kayak blockades in the bayous to people chaining themselves to extractors in protest of the construction. — Mary Lovell, Teen Vogue, "Bayou Bridge Pipeline Meets Resistance from the L’eau Est La Vie Camp," 16 Oct. 2018 Then make sure the documents are legal and kept where everyone can find them. — Ace Ratcliff, SELF, "6 Things You Should Do Now to Prepare for Your Own Funeral," 30 Aug. 2018 Both Sparks and Williams’ legal bills were paid for by Charles River. — Matthew Ormseth, courant.com, "Former Employee Of Groton Defense Contractor Requests New Trial After Conviction For Stealing Navy Secrets," 12 July 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
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
15 Nov 2018
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for legal
The first known use of legal was in the 15th century
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More Definitions for legal
legal
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of legal
: of or relating to the law
: based on the law
: allowed by the law or by the rules in a game
See the full definition for legal in the English Language Learners Dictionary
legal
adjective
\
Kids Definition of legal
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
legal
adjective
\
Legal 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 sense 1, judicial sense 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
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