legalize
verb
le·gal·ize
| \ ˈlē-gə-ˌlīz
\
\
legalized;
legalizing
Definition of legalize
: to make legal
especially
: to give legal validity or sanction to
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Other Words from legalize
legalization
\ ˌlē-gə-lə-ˈzā-shən
\
noun
\
noun
legalizer
\ ˈlē-gə-ˌlī-zər
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of legalize in a Sentence
They wanted to legalize gambling in their city.
The government has legalized the use of the new drug.
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the first was in Colorado, which legalized marijuana in 2012. — Washington Post, "Federal judge: Oregon pot racketeering lawsuit can proceed," 7 Sep. 2019 South Dakota is one of just a few states that hasn’t legalized industrial hemp. — Dana Ferguson, Twin Cities, "Walz tours Hastings hemp farm to tout crop’s potential — and ding South Dakota," 30 Aug. 2019 Since the passage of the US Farm Bill in late 2018, which legalized hemp with some conditions, CBD products have exploded in availability and popularity. — Alicia Wallace, CNN, "CBD product sales are booming. Now the FDA needs to weigh in," 9 July 2019 The distinction follows in the footsteps of a definition adopted by the feds in the 2018 U.S. farm bill, which legalized hemp federally and sparked interest from state lawmakers who wanted to do the same in Texas. — Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle, "Four Texas DAs announce shared plan to stop charging low-level pot cases in light of hemp bill," 3 July 2019 Pennsylvania, which recently legalized video gambling, will tax the industry at 52%. — Jason Grotto, ProPublica, "Illinois Video Gambling Tax Hike Will Be Decided by Lawmakers With Financial Ties to the Industry," 10 June 2019 Under the 2018 federal farm bill, which legalized hemp production, states can regulate production or let the U.S. Department to Agriculture do it. — Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, "New Colorado ag commissioner sets priorities, starting with supporting the next generation of farmers," 4 June 2019 On Thursday, President Trump signed into law the farm bill, which contained a provision legalizing hemp, a species of cannabis that CBD can be extracted from but that isn’t psychoactive. — Chavie Lieber, Vox, "Hemp is now legal. That’s huge for the CBD industry.," 20 Dec. 2018 In California, for instance, thanks to Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use, cities can pass their own zoning regulations and the number of licenses is strictly controlled. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Cannabis, coworking, and the marijuana-industry land rush," 24 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legalize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for legalize
legalize
verb
English Language Learners Definition of legalize
: to make (something) legal : to allow (something) by law
See the full definition for legalize in the English Language Learners Dictionary
legalize
verb
le·gal·ize
| \ ˈlē-gə-ˌlīz
\
\
legalized;
legalizing
Kids Definition of legalize
: to make allowable by law
legalized gambling
legalize
transitive verb
le·gal·ize
| \ ˈlē-gə-ˌlīz
\
\
legalized;
legalizing
Legal Definition of legalize
: to make legal
especially
: to give legal validity or sanction to
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