civil liberty
Americannoun
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the freedom of a citizen to exercise customary rights, as of speech or assembly, without unwarranted or arbitrary interference by the government.
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such a right as guaranteed by the laws of a country, as in the U.S. by the Bill of Rights.
noun
Etymology
Origin of civil liberty
First recorded in 1635–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But civil liberty groups are worried that its accuracy is yet to be fully established, and point to cases such as Shaun Thompson's.
From BBC ● May 25, 2024
SpaceX's high-profile rocket explosion on April 20 has angered environmental and civil liberty groups who are furious about the level of damage caused to the local environment in Texas.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2023
Locke also differentiates between natural liberty, which grows out of natural law, and civil liberty, which is the product of governance by a commonwealth.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
“The civil liberty argument has ebbed and flowed,” said Adam Wagner, a London-based human rights lawyer and expert on Covid-related laws.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
Besides defending Methodist principles and institutions, the paper made a strong stand for civil liberty, temperance, education, and missionary work.
From Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada by J. Harold Putnam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
