legislature

noun

leg·is·la·ture | \ ˈle-jə-ˌslā-chər

also ˌle-jə-ˈslā-, British often ˈle-jə-slə-chə \

Definition of legislature

: a body of persons having the power to legislate specifically : an organized body having the authority to make laws for a political unit

Examples of legislature in a Sentence

Our legislature passed a law requiring people to wear safety belts. Each state has its own legislature.

Recent Examples on the Web Most of those attempts, however, have either stalled in the legislature or failed. — Christine Mui, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2022 Republicans will be casting ballots for U.S. Senate and secretary of the state, while Democrats will be voting for state treasurer and secretary of the state, along with some seats in the state legislature. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 8 Aug. 2022 Saturday Hawaii will hold primary elections with residents casting their votes for candidates seeking to become the state's next governor, lieutenant governor and for all 76 seats in the state legislature. — Andrew Torgan, CNN, 7 Aug. 2022 Legislators from the region have suggested a special session in the Kentucky legislature to help cities affected by flooding spend money from donations, Beshear said. — Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 3 Aug. 2022 Republicans in the state legislature originally attempted to put a constitutional amendment that would void these protections on the ballot in 2020. — Annie Gowen, Washington Post, 3 Aug. 2022 Further, Kansas has Republican supermajorities in the legislature. — James Pindell, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2022 Three Republicans and two Democrats are contending for an open seat in the Florida legislature for House District 36. — Abigail Hasebroock, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2022 With a quarter of all openly gay or lesbian lawmakers in the state legislature and the potential to add three more in November, San Diego has built a base for LGBTQ representation by filling local seats and advancing candidates to higher office. — Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legislature.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries Near legislature

legislatress

legislature

legist

Statistics for legislature

Last Updated

14 Aug 2022

Cite this Entry

“Legislature.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legislature. Accessed 18 Aug. 2022.

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More Definitions for legislature

legislature

noun

leg·is·la·ture | \ ˈle-jə-ˌslā-chər

Kids Definition of legislature

: a body of persons having the power to make and change laws

legislature

noun

leg·is·la·ture | \ ˈle-jəs-ˌlā-chər, -ˌchu̇r

Legal Definition of legislature

: a body of persons having the power to legislate specifically : an organized body having the authority to make laws for a political unit (as a nation or state) — compare executive, judiciary