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
The law has also sparked an outcry from civil liberty and digital rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
From New York Times • May 22, 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
"Public safety is not compromised. Humanitarian-wise, it's a civil liberty issue."
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2022
The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws whenever he receives an injury.
From The Short Constitution by Russell, William F.
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.
