legal

comparative more legal · superlative most legal

1. Relating to the law or to lawyers.

   legal profession

   1 more example

   According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

   2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2020, page 55

2. Having its basis in the law.

   legal precedent

3. Being established, permitted, required or prescribed by law.

   legal motion

   2 more examples

   In South Africa, it’s still legal to “trophy hunt” the white rhino, which [Anna] Merz and others find reprehensible.

   1992 December 17, Michael Granberry, “Vanishing Act: Animals: A world without the homely rhino? […]”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2025

   After 50 years, legal segregation is a distant memory, and race in America is not the unbridgeable chasm it once was. The country has a black president. The sort of comity that King evoked, in which the descendants of slaves and of slave owners “sit down together at the table of brotherhood”, can be found in many places, including the Deep South. The rate of marriage between blacks and whites is rising.

   2013 August 23, “Waking life”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8850, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2023

   Synonyms: lawful, legitimate, licit, de jure, lawful, legitimate, licit, rightful · Antonyms: banned, contraband, disallowed, forbidden, illegal, outlawed, unlawful, black-market

4. Following the rules or syntax of a system, such as a game or a programming language.

   If you have no legal move, but are not in check the game is a draw.

   1 more example

   Programming languages are designed so that each legal program has exactly one meaning

   2021, John V. Guttag, Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python, Third Edition, page 7

5. offensiveslangsometimesAbove the age of consent or the legal drinking age.

   "Is she even legal? Shame on you, diddlin' a girl too young to buy beer. You being a church deacon and all." If looks could kill, Dale would be dead.

   2012 September 18, Sandra Brown, Low Pressure, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN

   1 more example

   "Is she even legal? She looks like a minor." Elias whispers back, "Of course. I checked her passport. She's 20. What do you take me for? Be nice. I like her." I immediately smile at the girl behind Elias,[…]

   2024 April 18, Ayin Quijano, Bottoms Up, Boracay (Season 2 Amihan), Ayin Quijano

   Antonyms: underage

6. UScolloquialPermitting the use and/or sale of cannabis; in which cannabis is lawful.

   [Because] marijuana is still a federally illegal drug, using the drug in a child's presence, even in a legal state, could thus be construed as child abuse.

   2019 September 13, Tracy Ferrell, Migrating for Medical Marijuana: Pioneers in a New Frontier of Treatment, McFarland, →ISBN, page 160

   1 more example

   Whether you're interested in opening a retail marijuana store in a legal state or if you're interested in investing in someone or a company, which is operating in a legal state, there are[…]

   2016 January 30, Jasper Stohner, 101 Money Making Methods in the Marijuana Madness Movement of 2016, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 45

7. lawrelating to formally codified law, as opposed to equity.

   Antonyms: equitable

plural legals

1. informaluncountableThe legal department of a company or organization.

   Legal wants this in writing.

2. countableA spy who is attached to, and ostensibly employed by, an embassy, military outpost, etc.
3. UScountableinformalOne who immigrated lawfully.

   Antonyms: illegal, undocumented

4. CanadaUSuncountableOf paper or document layouts, measuring 8+¹⁄₂ × 14 inches (216 × 356 mm).
5. PhilippinescountableuncountableOf paper or document layouts, measuring 8+¹⁄₂ × 13 inches (216 × 330 mm).

   Synonyms: long bond paper, government legal, foolscap

1. A town in Alberta, Canada.