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legal aid

American  

noun

  1. free legal service to persons unable to pay for a lawyer.

legal aid British  

noun

  1. a means-tested benefit in the form of financial assistance for persons to meet the cost of advice and representation in legal proceedings

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of legal aid

First recorded in 1885–90

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.

“The country is at war,” said Valery Vetoshkina, a lawyer associated with Russian nongovernmental organization OVD-Info, a legal aid group.

From The Wall Street Journal

The national legal aid system pays for barristers and solicitors to act for a defendant who cannot afford to pay for their own lawyer.

From BBC

The National Audit Office found there has been a real term reduction in legal aid spending by the MoJ of £728m between 2012-13 and 2022-23.

From BBC

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland voted to withdraw from Crown Court cases from 5 January 2026 following a dispute over legal aid fees.

From BBC

A spokeswoman for his legal representation, Legal Aid New South Wales, declined to comment.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.