as in sanctioning
to make (something) legal
They wanted to legalize gambling in their city.
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Recent Examples of legalizing
Lucas — a prominent backer of legalizing marijuana — has said the store sells legal hemp and CBD products.
—
Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Brian Vicente, partner at Vicente LLP, is optimistic that this week’s rescheduling is an incremental movement toward de-scheduling and maybe even legalizing marijuana altogether.
—Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2026
After a rash of abandonments led to infant deaths in the late 1990s, Texas became the first in the nation to pass a state law legalizing abandonment.
—Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
Cronin and Watson said Tunney began advocating for legalizing medical cannabis in Idaho in 2022, a push that continued until her death in 2024.
—Clark Corbin, Idaho Statesman, 14 Apr. 2026
Yeah, so in 2018, the Supreme Court overturned this law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which basically prevented states from legalizing sports betting and kept it in Las Vegas.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 11 Apr. 2026
Texas followed by legalizing hemp in 2019, allowing products that meet the THC threshold to be manufactured and sold.
—Dallas Morning News, 30 Mar. 2026
Defending the gambling expansion, Rouse has typically framed legalizing new gambling machines as an important source of income for small businesses.
—Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 22 Mar. 2026
Multiple states have argued that legalizing and regulating sports betting is under the jurisdiction of local regulators and outside the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates event contracts and the prediction markets.
—Contessa Brewer, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Brian Vicente, partner at Vicente LLP, is optimistic that this week’s rescheduling is an incremental movement toward de-scheduling and maybe even legalizing marijuana altogether.
—Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2026
After a rash of abandonments led to infant deaths in the late 1990s, Texas became the first in the nation to pass a state law legalizing abandonment.
—Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
Cronin and Watson said Tunney began advocating for legalizing medical cannabis in Idaho in 2022, a push that continued until her death in 2024.
—Clark Corbin, Idaho Statesman, 14 Apr. 2026
Yeah, so in 2018, the Supreme Court overturned this law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which basically prevented states from legalizing sports betting and kept it in Las Vegas.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 11 Apr. 2026
Texas followed by legalizing hemp in 2019, allowing products that meet the THC threshold to be manufactured and sold.
—Dallas Morning News, 30 Mar. 2026
Defending the gambling expansion, Rouse has typically framed legalizing new gambling machines as an important source of income for small businesses.
—Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 22 Mar. 2026
Multiple states have argued that legalizing and regulating sports betting is under the jurisdiction of local regulators and outside the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates event contracts and the prediction markets.
—Contessa Brewer, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legalizing
Verb
-
Phelps departed the top of the company after an acrimonious lawsuit and subsequent trial between the sanctioning body of NASCAR and two of its Cup Series teams — a 14-month process that revealed some pretty unflattering messages sent within NASCAR leadership.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Apr. 2026
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The sanctioning body pulled the plug early Saturday after overnight rain continued into the early morning hours.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Excessive regulation and permitting delays make rebuilding far more expensive, which pushes premiums even higher.—
Steve Hilton,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 May 2026
-
Central to those cases is the idea that college athletes, at least football players at the power conference level, are a labor market that sells services and that the NCAA permitting colleges to directly pay athletes is consistent with a pro league and teams that buy athlete services.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Senior Jamison Ford fired an 80-pitch complete game, allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven, as Swampscott defeated Beverly, 4-1, in the Northeastern Conference.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
8 May 2026
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The state also does not have a minimum age requirement to possess a firearm, a law that gun control advocates have criticized for allowing minors to carry guns.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
7 May 2026
Verb
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The Supreme Court on Monday essentially gave them a green light to proceed by approving a request to expedite the court’s formal judgment.—
Kim Chandler,
Twin Cities,
4 May 2026
-
County supervisors recently voted to hit restart on a proposal to put a 25-acre community park in Alpine, unanimously approving a new environmental impact report after a conservationist lawsuit derailed the project last year.—
Hannah Elsmore,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
Universal splits its pay-1 licensing deal between Amazon and Peacock.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
7 May 2026
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No doubt, the CPU, dubbed the AGI CPU, will be a big conversation on the earnings call, as this marks a strategic shift for the company into designing a complete chip rather than simply licensing its Arm instruction set to other chipmakers in exchange for royalties.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
3 May 2026
Verb
-
The science is getting better, enabling more organs to be used from patients who die older, sicker or further from a hospital.—
Karen Weintraub,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
-
In the ’90s, the blockbuster sales of two flea-and-tick medications, Frontline and Advantage, demonstrated untapped demand, and then intensified that demand by enabling new levels of indoor intimacy between dogs and people.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legalizing. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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