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Glite Dictionary
to outlaw child labor

to outlaw child labor

4.0
Make it illegal for companies to hire children to work
  • phrasal verb
  • US
translation icon : prohibir el trabajo infantil
  • The government decided to outlaw child labor in all industries.

Examples

  • Activists praised the parliament's decision to outlaw child labor nationwide.

  • The government plans to outlaw child labor by enacting stricter regulations this year.

  • A global coalition is working to outlaw child labor in the textile industry.

  • Why did they outlaw child labour in the 19th century?

  • Activists praised the parliament's decision to outlaw child labor nationwide.

  • A global coalition is working to outlaw child labor in the textile industry.

  • The government plans to outlaw child labor by enacting stricter regulations this year.

Synonyms

to outlaw
vsto outlaw child labor
114 4.4

To make something illegal

targets hiring of minors, making their employment unlawful by statute
to illegalize
vsto outlaw child labor
  • US
1 6.7

To make something against the law

targets hiring of minors, making that work illegal by law

Surface Forms

outlaw child labor infinitive
outlawed child labor past
outlawed child labor past participle
outlawing child labor present participle
outlaws child labor third person singular

Morphology

outlaw + child + labor

The meaning is directly compositional: 'outlaw' (to prohibit by law) applied to the noun phrase 'child labor' (work by children) yields 'make the employment of children illegal.' This construction follows a common verb + object pattern and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Outlaw child labor comes from the older meaning of outlaw, which used to mean putting someone 'outside the law'. So, to outlaw child labor is to say child labor must be 'illegal' and not allowed by law.