How to use outlaw in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Outlaw means a fugitive from the law. Example: “The main character in the play was a bit of an outlaw who refused to shake hands or say thank you.”

Examples of outlaw by meaning

nounA person who operates outside established norms.

The main character in the play was a bit of an outlaw who refused to shake hands or say thank you.

nounA prostitute who works alone, without a pimp.

Without a pimp, she was an "outlaw," likely to be harassed, or threatened with assault or robbery on the street.1977, Joseph Julian, Social Problems, page 463
She was an outlaw.2010, Lawrence Block, Eight Million Ways To Die

verbTo place a ban upon.

The legal change in England and Wales will outlaw selling, manufacturing, renting or importing zombie knives.2016 August 15, “'Zombie knives' ban to come into force”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2023
And outlawing these AR-15s would not require confiscating them from people who already have them.2022 June 5, Michael Fanone, “Opinion: Here’s the reason people tell me they want to buy an AR-15. And it’s simply ludicrous”, in CNN...

verbTo make or declare (a person) an outlaw.

AB has now gone beyond her original stance against gays as teachers and is now advocating a federal law to outlaw gays, a law which would override state law in the 19 states which have consenting adults sex laws.1978 February 11, Donald Cameron Scot, “Controversy and Boycott Must Continue”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 31, page 5

verbTo remove from legal jurisdiction or enforcement.

to outlaw a debt or claim

More sentences with outlaw

Bestiality was outlawed as an obscenity in the strongly conservative community.From the entry obscenity
Many US states have outlawed studs due to the damage they cause to paved roads.From the entry studs
By no means am I suggesting that euthanasia should be outlawed, but rather that we should look at its inherent risks.From the entry by no means
I'm here not by choice and certainly not as an outlaw.2018 Deadly Ploy, Book 3, page 130. From the entry rapeling
England’s combative coach . . . wants aggression, a touch of the outlaw, a mean streak.2016 March 10, Paul Hayward, “Sport: Eddie Jones takes England siege mentality to the extreme”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 14 Sep 2017. From the entry mean streak
Jones evokes the nasties discursively to brand the Splat Pack as 'authentic outlaws'.2014, mark Bernard, Selling the Splat Pack: The DVD Revolution and the American Horror Film. From the entry nasty
Nevertheless, for years now she had been pimpless—in the language of her profession, an outlaw.2012, William Kienzle, Marked for Murder: The Father Koesler Mysteries. From the entry pimpless
In no uncertain terms do I believe that we should outlaw or 'wuss down' contact sports!!!2011 January 31, Ben McGrath, “Does football have a future: The NFL and the concussion crisis”, in The New Yorker. From the entry in no uncertain terms
I tell you what else ought to be outlawed in our school.2011, K[athaleen] D[eiser] McCrite, “The Pittiest Pit of Your Stomach”, in Cliques, Hicks, and Ugly Sticks (Confessions of April Grace…. From the entry ugly stick
In R&D and engineering, skunk works are guerrilla operations; they are the outlaws of the formal organization.2002, Evert Gummesson, “RM, the Network Organization and the Network Society”, in Total Relationship Marketing, 2nd edition, Oxford…. From the entry adhocrat
“That could have an effect on what the outlaw KGBers make use of and when.”1998 November, Tim Somheil, chapter 6, in Hostile Proximity (The Executioner; 239), Toronto, Ont.: Worldwide Library, →ISBN, page 76. From the entry KGBer
Geeking, unsurprisingly, was among the first carnival acts to be outlawed as the 20th century unfurled.1995, Jack Hunter, Inside Teradome, page 23. From the entry geek
Some anti-circumcisionists would outlaw the practice of infant circumcision, even for religious reasons.1986, Bernard Ohanian, "Primal Cut: The Fight Over Circumcision", Mother Jones, April/May 1986, page 28. From the entry anti-circumcisionist
A third practice outlawed is discrimination against shippers as punishment for nonpatronage.1983, An Assessment of maritime trade and technology., →ISBN, page 157. From the entry nonpatronage
Soon afterward, the federal government, in effect, outlawed the rinky-dinks by adopting minimum-strength standards.1980, Mechanix Illustrated, volume 76, Greenwich, Conn.: Modern Mechanix Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 112. From the entry rinky-dink
The giants also had been outlawed along with Satan because they had fought against god.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 21. From the entry giant
Board of Education decision outlawed government sanctioned, racially separate schools.2024 June 9, Tracey Tully, “Facing Entrenched School Segregation, New Jersey Tries Something New”, in The New York Times. From the entry voluntarily
Capital punishment was outlawed by the government but some plantation managers and luna still delivered lashings and other forms of abuse.2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 35. From the entry luna
As the American novelist Tom Robbins once famously put it: When freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will be free.2010, John R. Bradley, Behind the Veil of Vice, page 73. From the entry neopuritan
He will post Calandryll outlaw, claiming him a father-slayer.”2010, Angus Wells, Dark Magic: The Godwars. From the entry father-slayer
Tuck takes the turns off his saddle horn and makes that shaggy outlaw a gift of his prize catchrope.2008, Richard E. Baker, Letters from Across the Big Divide: The Ghost Writings of Charles M. Russell, page 108. From the entry catchrope
“They are not even aware the practice is outlawed.”2007 November 1, “Trial by ordeal makes the guilty burn but ‘undermines justice’”, in IRIN, archived from the original on 06 May 2017. From the entry sassywood
All are practitioners of Falun Gong, the outlawed meditation movement that numbers its followers in the tens of thousands.2002 February 23, Bei Ling, Andrea Huss, “Warming Up to China, Neglecting Democracy”, in The New York Times (Opinion section), New York…. From the entry Falun Gong
Although I won't archive Doggettfic on Xemplary, it isn't outlawed on the XF Creative Mailing List, where just about anything goes.2001 July 13, Shannara, “Re: What's with the witch hunt of XF authors?”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet). From the entry Doggettfic
I imagined Queer Nation as a collection of bizarros who celebrated every outlawed characteristic in our one nation under Helms.1991 February 11, Eric R. Rofes, “My Life As A Queer”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 29, page 11. From the entry strutter
I’m a pariah, outlawed from Time Lord society.1985, Robert Holmes, “The Two Doctors”, in Doctor Who, season 22, episode 4. From the entry pariah
My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever.1984 Aug. 11, Ronald Reagan, soundcheck for a weekly address. From the entry American
The cities of New York and Pittsburgh, Pa., have also adopted ordinances outlawing discrimination in nongovernmentally assisted housing.1961, United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1961 Commission on Civil Rights Report, page 122. From the entry nongovernmentally
Since repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment a substantial majority of Kentucky counties have voted under local option to outlaw liquor.1954, Alben W. Barkley, That Reminds Me, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 42. From the entry prohibition
Already in the hopper was another bill, by Florida's stanch New Deal Senator Claude Pepper, to outlaw poll taxes altogether.1942 September 14, “U.S. At War: Revolution from Above”, in Time. From the entry in the hopper
If the accused did not appear on the day named for the trial, he was outlawed at the folkmoot.1919, F. J. Snell, The Customs of Old England. From the entry folkmoot
Cpac’s chairman, Matt Schlapp, even suggested outlawing abortion as a solution: “If you’re worried about this ‘replacement’, why don’t we start there?2022 June 8, Steve Rose, “A deadly ideology: how the ‘great replacement theory’ went mainstream”, in The Guardian, archived from the…. From the entry Budapest
The legislation also seeks to outlaw “balconing”, the practice of jumping into a swimming pool from a hotel balcony that kills several people each year.2020 January 17, Stephen Burgen, “Balearic islands pass bill targeting boozy Brits abroad”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on…. From the entry practice

Meaning of outlaw

noun A fugitive from the law.
noun A criminal who is excluded from normal legal rights; one who can be killed at will without legal penalty.
noun A person who operates outside established norms.

Full definition of outlaw

Questions about outlaw in a sentence

How do you use outlaw in a sentence?: Outlaw is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The main character in the play was a bit of an outlaw who refused to shake hands or say thank you.”
What is a short sentence with outlaw?: “She was an outlaw.”
What does outlaw mean?: Outlaw means a fugitive from the law.

Adapted from Wiktionary: outlaw (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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