Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make lawful; render conformable to law, either by previous authorization or by giving the sanction of law to what has already been done; authorize; sanction; justify.
- In theology, to interpret or apply Seripture in the spirit of legalism. Also spelled
legalise .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To make legal.
- transitive verb (Theol.) To interpret or apply in a legal spirit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb American Alternative spelling of
legalise .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make legal
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Anti-drug activists say the candy, packaged in a bag emblazoned with the word "legalize," sends kids the message that illegal drugs are okay.
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The only reason to write legislation in impenetrable legalize is a desire to hide what they’re doing from their constituents and one another (and, I suppose, tradition, upheld to preserve their ability to hide what they’re doing in the future.
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There is currently a bill (Democratic formed/backed) that wil not only "legalize" ILLEGALS in 24 hours (you read it right) but also allow "Gang Bangers" in as well "as long as they say they don't wnat to be in a gang anymore".
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There is currently a bill (Democratic formed/backed) that wil not only "legalize" ILLEGALS in 24 hours (you read it right) but also allow "Gang Bangers" in as well "as long as they say they don't wnat to be in a gang anymore".
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I don't think the government should "legalize" (or even address) any kind of marriage, nor delegate its regulatory police power to the people on this matter.
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So I don't say 'legalize' it; I say decriminalize pot, and mushrooms.
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While Bybee did not admit any wrongdoing, he did blame Yoo for being too close to the White House when Yoo apparently formulated the memos that attempted to "legalize" torture.
Coleen Rowley: Join the FAT (Fast Against Torture) on August 1, 2010 2010
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Illegally attempting to "legalize" unduly elected representatives of the corporate special interests, rather than of the American people, as it were.
Supreme Court Ruling Once Again Desecrates Founders Constitution 2010
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Illegally attempting to "legalize" unduly elected representatives of the corporate special interests, rather than of the American people, as it were.
Liberal Supreme Court Once Again Desecrates Founders Constitution 2010
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After Bush, Cheney and other White House principals approved of "dark side" methods, they got their lawyers to "legalize" various forms of torture through the series of OLC memorandums that culminated with the "torture memos" written on August 1, 2002.
Coleen Rowley: Join the FAT (Fast Against Torture) on August 1, 2010 2010
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