blue laws

plural noun

1. history a number of repressive puritanical laws of the colonial period, forbidding any secular activity on Sundays

blue laws

1. Laws that prohibit certain businesses from opening on Sunday or from selling certain items on that day. Blue laws often apply to bars and to alcohol sales. Originally enacted to allow observation of Sunday as a Sabbath , blue laws have come under attack as violating the separation of church and state . The courts, however, have upheld most blue laws, on the basis that their observance has become secular and promotes Sunday as a day of rest and relaxation.

Example Sentences

These Blue Laws, as they were called, aimed at establishing an almost theocratic form of government.

From Project Gutenberg

These agents should be licensed by the State as the “Blue Laws” require the licensing of stock salesmen.

From Project Gutenberg

The old blue laws were stringently enforced, and the penalty for infringement was usually a sharp one.

From Project Gutenberg

There is at the present time a strong and perhaps growing tendency towards enacting Sunday Blue Laws.

From Project Gutenberg

I spent the first years of my life under the influence of what history has called the "Blue Laws" of Connecticut.

From Project Gutenberg