Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use legalize in a sentence

17 example sentences · verb

Legalize means to make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it. Example: “There is a debate whether or not to legalize some of the softer drugs.”

Examples of legalize by meaning

verbTo make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically...

  • There is a debate whether or not to legalize some of the softer drugs.
  • This is true despite the fact that in 1986, the federal government legalized the cashability of RRSP annuities.1987, Dian Cohen, Money, page 155
  • Legislative reform campaigns aimed at restricting foreign immigration, mandating state institutionalization of the biologically unfit, and legalizing eugenical involuntary sterilization.2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 71

More sentences with legalize

  • The new legislature passed a resolution retroactively legalizing the actions of the revolutionaries that brought them to power.From the entry retroactively
  • "Consanguinamory," is Shy's term for incestuous relationships, which she says should be legalized and recognized as "marriage."2016 August 18, James B., “Mother Willing to go to Jail in Fight For Sexual Relationship With Son”, in The Christian Post. From the entry consanguinamory
  • Some married American citizens to legalize their stay, while others paid for “green card” marriages.2009, Joaquin Jay Gonzalez, Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 24. From the entry TNT
  • Like several other northeastern states, New York has also legalized various forms of lottery and number games.1990, John Dombrink, William Norman Thompson, The Last Resort: Success And Failure In Campaigns For Casinos, page 99. From the entry number games
  • First Wave Antiracism battled slavery and legalized segregation.2021, John H. McWhorter, chapter 1, in Woke Racism, New York: Forum, →ISBN. From the entry antiracism
  • After I-Kuan Tao was legalized, how has Chungkuo Kuomintang government continued to operate the relationship with I-Kuan Tao?2017, WU,FENG-CHUNG [吳鳳章], “From Oppression to Embrace: I-Kuan Tao and Kuomintang [從壓迫到擁抱:一貫道與國民黨]”, in I-Kuan Tao College [一貫道天皇學院]…. From the entry Chungkuo Kuomintang
  • That summer overhanded pitching was legalized, resulting in a slew of no-hitters, including the only ones ever pitched at Recreation Park.1998, Richard Bak, A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium, →ISBN, page 31. From the entry overhanded
  • Now it was America’s duty to modernize, legalize, democratize and technocratize the East whether the inhabitants liked it or not.1972, W. A. Swanberg, Luce and His Empire, New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, →LCCN, page 459. From the entry technocratize
  • By accepting this proposal the Bonn Government has legalized the re-establishment of cartels and other types of monopolies in Germany.1953, “The Cartel Comeback – A U. S. Failure”, in Prevent World War III, number 42, Society for the Prevention of World War III, Inc.…. From the entry recartelization
  • Many of the legitimate nightclubs of today sprang like legalized phoenixes from the still-hot ashes of the speakeasies of prohibition days.1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 90. From the entry phoenix
  • The lesson to take away from Paul is not to be a semi-racist, isolationist politician who advocates for legalizing heroin and abolishing the Federal Reserve.2016, David Cahn, When Millennials Rule: The Reshaping of America. From the entry semiracist
  • Nero, having failed to arrange a fatal accident for her, had his mother killed but legalized matricide by inventing a conspiracy which she was supposed to have mistress-minded.1994, Anthony Blond, A Brief History of the Private Lives of the Roman Emperors, Constable & Robinson, published 2008, →ISBN. From the entry mistressmind
  • “The President can go to the elections alone because I'm not going to legalize a fraud of huge proportions in order to maintain continuism,” he added.1974 May 14, “BOYCOTT IS HINTED IN DOMINICAN VOTE”, in The New York Times. From the entry continuism
  • This method, it is thought, stands a very good chance of becoming legalized in Maryland, the State which has some fame for being a beginner of things.1906 September 8, “Tempering Justice in America; Making it Cruel Abroad: What is being Done in Many Lands to Cure the Criminal”, in The…. From the entry beginner

Meaning of legalize

  1. verb To make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it.

Full definition of legalize

Questions about legalize in a sentence

How do you use legalize in a sentence?
Legalize is used as a verb. For example: “There is a debate whether or not to legalize some of the softer drugs.”
What is a short sentence with legalize?
“First Wave Antiracism battled slavery and legalized segregation.”
What does legalize mean?
Legalize means to make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: legalize (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use legalize in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/legalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.