illegal
adjective (illegal); noun (an illegal — rare, can be rude about people)
Everyday
- Not allowed by the law; against the rules of a country. tree →
- In games: against the rules: «an illegal move». tree →
In the lessons
In citizenship and safety lessons: stealing, drink-driving and selling alcohol to children are illegal, and the police can act against them. In everyday life it is illegal to cycle without lights at night in many places or to play loud music late. In sport and games: «an illegal tackle», «an illegal move» in chess.
Examples
- It is illegal to steal from a shop. tree →
- Parking here is illegal. tree →
- Selling cigarettes to children is illegal. tree →
- The referee said the tackle was illegal. tree →
- In chess, moving your king into check is an illegal move. tree →
- Hunting this rare bird is illegal. tree →
- Is it illegal to ride a bike on the pavement? tree →
Note
«il-» means «not»: legal → illegal (like «illogical»). Double «l»: il + legal. Not everything bad is illegal, and laws differ from country to country. Calling a person «an illegal» is rude; say «a person without legal papers».
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «illegal» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «illegal» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/illegal/