legal

«legal» in Mova's school dictionary: Allowed by the law of a country or place — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (legal, more legal, most legal)

meaning for a pupil

1) Allowed by the law of a country or place. tree →

2) To do with the law, courts and lawyers: legal advice, a legal case. tree →

3) Following the rules of a game or a sport: a legal move in chess. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety it tells you something is allowed by law (it is legal to ride a bike here; it is not legal to drive without a licence). In stories a «legal battle» is a fight in court. Phrases: legal age, legal tender (money that must be accepted), legal guardian, legal move. In maths and games a «legal move» is one the rules allow.

examples

• It is legal to cross the road at a zebra crossing. tree →
• Is it legal to fly a drone in the park? tree →
• Her aunt gives legal advice to families. tree →
• The bishop's move was legal, so the game went on. tree →
• You must be of legal age to vote. tree →
• His legal guardian signed the school form. tree →
• Coins and notes are legal tender. tree →
• The company started a legal case against the builder. tree →

note

Opposite: illegal (with -il, not «unlegal»). Noun: legality; adverb: legally. Legal does not always mean right or kind, and some things that feel unfair are still legal. A «legal guardian» is the adult the law puts in charge of a child. «Legal size» paper is a size used in the USA and Canada.

In the corpora

• In the UK a strike is legal after a vote, and the disruption is deliberate so that people notice.
• A divorce is the official legal end of a marriage, and "the divorce came through" means the court has finished it.
• It was reported that more cases of invented court cases in legal papers happened later, in other countries too.
• Some cities have legal walls, also called free walls, where graffiti is allowed, and the paintings change quickly.
• "Undocumented immigrant" means an immigrant living without legal permission (US, polite).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «legal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.