outlaw Hear it!

outlaw definition

out·law (o̵ut′lô′)

noun

  1. Historical a person declared by a court of law to be deprived of legal rights and protection, generally for the commission of some crime: the killing of such a person was not a legal offense
  2. a habitual or notorious criminal who is a fugitive from the law
  3. a fierce or uncontrollable horse or other animal

Etymology: ME outlawe < OE utlaga < ON útlagr, lit., outlawed: see out & law

transitive verb

  1. Historical to declare to be an outlaw
  2. in the U.S., to remove the legal force of (contracts, etc.)
  3. to declare unlawful or illegal
  4. to bar, or ban

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

outlaw Synonyms

outlaw

n.

fugitive, bandit, badman; see criminal.


outlaw

v.

make illegal, stop, ban; see banish, condemn 1, prevent.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

outlaw Usage Examples

Object

  • incitement: In the longer term we ask you introduce legislation to outlaw incitement to homophobic violence.

Converse of object

  • declare: At the instigation of one of his brothers he is thrown into prison, escapes and is declared an outlaw.

Adjective modifier

  • notorious: Newman portrays notorious outlaw Billy the Kid in director Arthur Penn's first feature, " The Left-Handed Gun " ( 1958 ).

Modifies a noun

  • gang: John's work brought the violence of outlaw gang literally into their home and he was often away for extended periods of time.

Modifying Another Word

  • effectively: Legitimate coarse fishing methods are effectively outlawed by Scottish angling legislation.

Preposition: of

  • discrimination: The British Humanist Association welcomes the outlawing of discrimination based on religion or belief.
outlaw usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

outlaw quotes

The wandering outlaw of his own dark mind.

-Rochdale

We are not going to tolerate these attacks from outlaw states, run by the strangest collection of misfits, looney tunes and squalid criminals since the advent of theThird Reich.

-Reagan, Ronald Wilson

   Jazz musicians have some outlaw in them somewhere if theyare serious about this music† There is no valid motivation for it other than loveöoutlaw motivation in a profit-motivated society.

-Zwerin, Mike

outlaw quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"outlaw." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/outlaw>

APA Style

outlaw. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/outlaw

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment