legalize

verb

Definition of legalizenext
as in to permit
to make (something) legal They wanted to legalize gambling in their city.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of legalize The proposal shares the same name as the 2024 amendment that legalized access to the procedure. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2026 Rantzen was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023 and went on to become a prominent campaigner for legalizing assisted dying in the UK. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026 Mobile sports betting was legalized in April 2021 with Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law 1367-a. — Outkick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026 The group of alders instead advanced a budget raising revenue by hiking the plastic bag tax, liquor taxes, allowing ads on light poles and city vehicles, and legalized video gambling terminals in the city of Chicago. — Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for legalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legalize
  1. permit
  2. sanction
  3. allow
  4. approve
  5. enable
  6. license
Verb
  • Buyers must be approved by the board and financing is not permitted.
    — Mark David, Robb Report, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Or, if the objective is to assess a student’s knowledge of historical events, an instructor might permit the use of AI for proofreading.
    — Melissa Loble, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of permit
Verb
  • The company is drawing a line between sanctioned and unsanctioned sharing with outside safety groups at the same time the industry is, slowly, inviting those groups in.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Other sanctioned Iranian airlines, however, have continued flying into Turkey.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of sanction
Verb
  • The button placement is great for beginners and allows new users to start straight away before moving up to more advanced shooting.
    — Harry Bennett, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Cheaper and more plentiful computing power would allow AI agents to proliferate, Hayes said.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of allow
Verb
  • The allegations come after the California Department of Human Resources sent a notice in February 2022 outlining that departments cannot approve employee requests to regularly work from out-of-state locations.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The consent agenda is intended to approve items with broad or unanimous agreement.
    — Mary Ramsey, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of approve
Verb
  • These event listeners enhance accessibility by enabling form submission or closure // when the user presses either the 'Enter' or 'Space' key.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Consider Inside Membership a slick, Uber-like alternative to traditional PR agencies, streamlining the process of bookings, content creation and measurement of ROI, since it’s all enabled by proprietary technology.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of enable
Verb
  • Streamers are moving from licensing rights to co-financing production, according to country reports in The A Report.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • This combined data will build the technical safety case that regulators demand before licensing commercial units for broad public use.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of license

Browse Nearby Words

legalizations
legalize
legalized
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Legalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legalize. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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