lawfully


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

law·ful

 (lô′fəl)
adj.
1. Being within the law; allowed by law: lawful methods of dissent.
2. Established, sanctioned, or recognized by the law: the lawful heir.
3. Obeying the law; law-abiding.

law′ful·ly adv.
law′ful·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adv.1.lawfully - in a manner acceptable to common custom; "you cannot do this legitimately!"
illegally, lawlessly, illicitly - in an illegal manner; "they dumped the waste illegally"
2.lawfully - by law; conforming to the law; "we are lawfully wedded now"
unlawfully - not conforming to the law; "they were unlawfully married"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
قانونيا
zákonitě
lovligt
löglega
zákonite
yasal olarak

lawfully

[ˈlɔːfəlɪ] ADVlegalmente
the children were not lawfully theirslos hijos no eran legalmente suyos
he was judged to have acted lawfullyconsideraron que había actuado legítimamente
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lawfully

[ˈlɔːfʊli] advlégalement
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lawfully

advrechtmäßig; he is lawfully entitled to compensationer hat einen Rechtsanspruch or rechtmäßigen Anspruch auf Entschädigung; he was careful to carry on his activities lawfullyer achtete darauf, dass seine Handlungen im Rahmen des Gesetzes blieben
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lawfully

[ˈlɔːfəlɪ] advlegalmente
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

law

(loː) noun
1. the collection of rules according to which people live or a country etc is governed. Such an action is against the law; law and order.
2. any one of such rules. A new law has been passed by Parliament.
3. (in science) a rule that says that under certain conditions certain things always happen. the law of gravity.
ˈlawful adjective
1. (negative unlawful) allowed by law. He was attacked while going about his lawful business.
2. just or rightful. She is the lawful owner of the property.
ˈlawfully adverb
ˈlawless adjective
paying no attention to, and not keeping, the law. In its early days, the American West was full of lawless men.
ˈlawlessly adverb
ˈlawlessness noun
lawyer (ˈloːjə) noun
a person whose work it is to know about and give advice and help to others concerning the law. If you want to make your will, consult a lawyer.
ˈlaw-abiding adjective
obeying the law. a law- abiding citizen.
law court (also court of law)
a place where people accused of crimes are tried and legal disagreements between people are judged.
ˈlawsuit noun
a quarrel or disagreement taken to a court of law to be settled.
be a law unto oneself
to be inclined not to obey rules or follow the usual customs and conventions.
the law
the police. The thief was still in the building when the law arrived.
the law of the land
the established law of a country.
lay down the law
to state something in a way that indicates that one expects one's opinion and orders to be accepted without argument.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
"I believe there can be no doubt that you are lawfully my son's wife," Mrs.
I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause-- as cheerfully to one section as to another.
Our Portuguese therefore thought that, without staying till the last extremities, they might lawfully repel one violence by another, and sallying out to the number of fifty, wounded about three score of the Abyssins, and had put them to the sword but that they feared it might bring too great an odium upon our cause.
But still it distressed him to think he had not been dubbed a knight, for it was plain to him he could not lawfully engage in any adventure without receiving the order of knighthood.
Well, if they can be easy with an estate that is not lawfully their own, so much the better.
(all of you) by the merits of the Saviour that ye are not pirates, nor have shed blood lawfully or unlawfully within forty days past, you may have licence to come on land.'
Of those who lawfully may, and of those who may not, write such histories as this.
One, the lower class, vulgar, stupid, and, above all, ridiculous people, who believe that one husband ought to live with the one wife whom he has lawfully married; that a girl should be innocent, a woman modest, and a man manly, self-controlled, and strong; that one ought to bring up one's children, earn one's bread, and pay one's debts; and various similar absurdities.
"It is felony, as I have just told you, for a Roman Catholic priest to celebrate a marriage which may be lawfully celebrated by a parochial clergyman, a Presbyterian mini ster, and a Non-conformist minister.
They rightly claimed that "Tom" was lawfully their property and had been so for eight years; that they had already lost sufficiently in being deprived of his services during that long period, and ought not to be required to add anything to that loss; that if he had been delivered up to them in the first place, they would have sold him and he could not have murdered Judge Driscoll; therefore it was not that he had really committed the murder, the guilt lay with the erroneous inventory.
Such things as could be said for him, were said - how he had taken to industrious habits, and had thriven lawfully and reputably.
If a prince sends forces into a nation, where the people are poor and ignorant, he may lawfully put half of them to death, and make slaves of the rest, in order to civilize and reduce them from their barbarous way of living.