as in parliaments
a group of people with the power to make or change laws
Our legislature passed a law requiring people to wear safety belts. Each state has its own legislature. state legislatures
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Recent Examples of legislatures
That means executive orders and White House positioning matters far less than the restrictions and limits on AI moving through state legislatures in Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Indiana.
—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
30 June 2026
Rather than just letting humanities departments die off, red-state legislatures have flooded public universities with something like a Works Progress Administration for academics.
—
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
The declaration has a lot to say about the king’s treatment of Colonial legislatures.
—
Joseph Thorndike,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2026
So, parents can also consider asking governors and state legislatures to go back to analog testing.
—
CNN Money,
29 June 2026
Virtually all contemporary dictatorships are cosplay democracies with term limits, elections, and legislatures—the few ruling, as Amos Perlmutter put it, in the name of the many.
—
Simon Sebag Montefiore,
The Atlantic,
28 June 2026
In votes for local council seats in England, and seats in the semi-autonomous legislatures of Wales and Scotland, Starmer's Labour Party lost big.
—
Frank Andrews,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
Legal reforms likely won’t resolve systemic issues Across the country, state legislatures have begun responding.
—
Donovan McCarty,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
In its Supreme Court appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union said the justices should get involved because state legislatures are increasingly imposing new burdens on voters who are supposed to be protected by the federal law.
—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
21 June 2026
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
30 June 2026
Rather than just letting humanities departments die off, red-state legislatures have flooded public universities with something like a Works Progress Administration for academics.
—
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
The declaration has a lot to say about the king’s treatment of Colonial legislatures.
—
Joseph Thorndike,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2026
So, parents can also consider asking governors and state legislatures to go back to analog testing.
—
CNN Money,
29 June 2026
Virtually all contemporary dictatorships are cosplay democracies with term limits, elections, and legislatures—the few ruling, as Amos Perlmutter put it, in the name of the many.
—
Simon Sebag Montefiore,
The Atlantic,
28 June 2026
In votes for local council seats in England, and seats in the semi-autonomous legislatures of Wales and Scotland, Starmer's Labour Party lost big.
—
Frank Andrews,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
Legal reforms likely won’t resolve systemic issues Across the country, state legislatures have begun responding.
—
Donovan McCarty,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
In its Supreme Court appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union said the justices should get involved because state legislatures are increasingly imposing new burdens on voters who are supposed to be protected by the federal law.
—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
21 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legislatures
Noun
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As supposedly independent states, all members of the USSR had their own presidents and parliaments.
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Those concerns haven’t stopped European parliaments from pushing for their own versions of an Australian-style ban.
Noun
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Along the bay stood a long, busy waterfront, lined with warehouses, shops and trading houses.
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Such offenders will use all different ruses to distract the victim, such as claiming to be utility workers, tree trimmers, or handymen working on neighbors' houses.
Noun
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The list of signatories includes many of the field’s most prominent names, more than 50 of whom have spoken at previous congresses.
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Palestinian soccer officials have long argued — including at FIFA annual congresses across the past 15 years, before Infantino was president — that Israel violates statutes by letting teams from settlements in the West Bank play in the national league.
Cite this Entry
“Legislatures.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legislatures. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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