legalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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legalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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legalized,
past participle, past
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legalizing
present participle
verb
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to make lawful or legal
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to confirm or validate (something previously unlawful)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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legalizesimple
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legalizessimple
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have legalizedperfect
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has legalizedperfect
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am legalizingprogressive
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are legalizingprogressive
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is legalizingprogressive
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have been legalizingperfect progressive
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has been legalizingperfect progressive
Past
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legalizedsimple
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had legalizedperfect
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was legalizingprogressive
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were legalizingprogressive
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had been legalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of legalize
Explanation
To legalize some activity is to change a law so that people are free to do it. You might live in a state that once banned fireworks, until citizens voted to legalize them—making Independence Day significantly noisier. When something that's been illegal goes through the process of becoming legal, the government legalizes it. Gambling was legalized in Nevada back in the 1930s. To legalize a person is to make them a legal citizen of a country. Today, many people argue for legalizing victimless crimes, or those that arguably don't hurt anyone.
Vocabulary lists containing legalize
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ize
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-ize, List 2
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leg, legis
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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.
See Examples For:
They gathered nearly 32,000 verified signatures to get "Initiative 86" on the ballot, which is more signatures than for a proposal to legalize cannabis approved in 2014.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
In four major speeches Douglass extolled the Mayflower, joining antislavery figures who looked back to the Plymouth settlers—who established government by consent and initially did not legalize slavery—as an ur-source of abolitionism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Bernal added that delinquency rates for credit cards and car loans have jumped by 25% to 27% for borrowers under age 40 in states that legalize internet sports betting.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
The law preempts local control to legalize midrise and high-rise multifamily housing, unlocking zoning for up to 1.5 million new units in major cities, including Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
I write that America is my home in my heart, and how citizenship will legalize what I already feel.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed into law a bill that effectively legalizes the cryptocurrency sector in the country.
From The Verge ● Mar. 17, 2022
A new Polish law took effect Tuesday that legalizes the pushbacks.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
Montenegro legalizes same-sex civil partnerships: Montenegro voted to legalize same-sex civil partnerships, becoming the first European country outside Western Europe and the European Union to legally recognize gay and lesbian couples.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2020
Supreme Court a year ago overturned a 1992 federal ban on sports wagering outside of Nevada, states have passed legislation that legalizes, regulates and taxes the activity.
From Reuters ● May 14, 2019
The act legalizes the deportation of people suspected of having “ties to terrorism.”
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
My father, who crossed the border in the trunk of a Chevy, legalized his status in an era when it was far easier to do so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Marriage equality was legalized in all 50 states by the Supreme Court 11 years ago in Obergefell v.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Cuba's housing market emerged only in 2011, when the government legalized home sales.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Now, 32 states have legalized online sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026
Militants within the organization saw the election as an opportunity to install a new, more activist leadership—one which would reenergize a movement that had stalled after winning most of the battles against legalized segregation.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Bass proposed legalizing vacation rentals in her budget this year, though the proposal was removed from the budget by the City Council.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
The small South American country has a long history of passing socially liberal laws, legalizing marijuana, same-sex marriage and abortion long before most others.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
Emboldened by a federal judge’s 2024 ruling legalizing election betting, Kalshi introduced sports betting earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
But then he surprised everyone by swiftly legalizing political parties, appointing the reformist Adolfo Suárez as prime minister, and overseeing the creation of a new democratic constitution.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2025
And indeed, those early- legalizing states saw crime begin to fall earlier than the other forty-five states and the District of Columbia.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
