lawful
- adjective
- /ˈlɔːfəl/
- Formal
- Was this a crime committed by Israel or was it a perfectly lawful thing for them to have done?
- lawful activity
- lawful authority
- lawful rights
Forcing them through the ports of entry, do better lawful pathways, right?
- Forcing them through the ports of entry, do better lawful pathways, right?
- Can you find other means of lawful employment, which I did too.
- So the five years was for the the escape from lawful custody.
- Was this a crime committed by Israel or was it a perfectly lawful thing for them to have done?
- It's got to be done in a very concerted, lawful way.
- It was lawful to sack someone from their job or deny them housing.
- And lo and behold, these are lawful permanent residents who were suddenly facing permanent deportation.
- It was a lawful protest permitted by the National Park Service that devolved into a riots.
- And it makes no headlines right now, but the Trump administration has refused lawful court orders now that they're supposed to produce documents.
- I'm trying to tell you is that you should be pro lawful immigration and you can have your ideas of why and how and who should come over here.
- You have to learn all the lawful ways to get from all the big landmarks to be a certified London taxi cab driver.
- Today we need to have a lawful society because we need to be at peace so that I could find my own pursuit of happiness.
- But you can issue a lawful order, give my money to that fucking guy.
- You're crossing the border illegally, but through a lawful way to do it.
- So I was detained under the Terrorism Act and questioned for six hours about my lawful legal doings.
Examples
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Today we need to have a lawful society because we need to be at peace so that I could find my own pursuit of happiness.
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The Supreme Court held that the search was lawful because Fernandez was removed from the premises for lawful purposes.
Academic text (2017) -
But I would know by what lawful authority I was brought here.
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Can you find other means of lawful employment, which I did too.
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So they tried to release their lawful ownership of it.
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So it's very important that we maintain the oversight over the lawful exercise of intelligence authorities.
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For commercial speech to come within that provision, it must at least concern lawful activity and not be misleading.
Academic text (2008) -
In other words, the Court asked whether the police had lawful access to the target of the contraband-only search.
Academic text (2017) -
Inside the village, a set of conventions governs the lawful transfer of titles.
Academic text (1992) -
Many people seek lawful ways to earn a living without breaking any rules.
Synonyms
Relating to the law, lawyers, or what the law allows
Allowed by law or fair rules
Accepted by law, by an official, or for good reason
Having a legal or moral claim to something
Allowed by law, rules, or custom
Rules or laws permit it
Something the law or rules allow
Having official permission to do something
Antonyms
Compounds
How Legal
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word lawful comes from law and the ending -ful, where -ful means 'full of' or 'having'. So lawful literally means 'full of law' and is used for things that are 'allowed by law' or that follow the rules, which is why it means legal or permitted.