legislating

(redirected from legislatings)
Also found in: Thesaurus.

leg·is·late

(lĕj′ĭ-slāt′)

v. leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing, leg·is·lates

v.intr.

To draft or enact laws.

v.tr.

1. To draft or enact (a law).

2. To bring about, establish, or influence by means of legislation: legislate safety standards; legislate social attitudes.

[Back-formation from legislator.]

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:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

legislating - the act of making or enacting laws

lawmaking, legislation

governing, government activity, government, governance, administration - the act of governing; exercising authority; "regulations for the governing of state prisons"; "he had considerable experience of government"

criminalisation, criminalization - legislation that makes something illegal; "the criminalization of marijuana"

decriminalisation, decriminalization - legislation that makes something legal that was formerly illegal

enactment, passage - the passing of a law by a legislative body

legislation, statute law - law enacted by a legislative body

law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"

reconsider - consider again (a bill) that had been voted upon before, with a view to altering it

filibuster - obstruct deliberately by delaying

References in classic literature ?

Whether sixty-five members for a few years, and a hundred or two hundred for a few more, be a safe depositary for a limited and well-guarded power of legislating for the United States?

View in context

The diet possesses the general power of legislating for the empire; of making war and peace; contracting alliances; assessing quotas of troops and money; constructing fortresses; regulating coin; admitting new members; and subjecting disobedient members to the ban of the empire, by which the party is degraded from his sovereign rights and his possessions forfeited.

View in context

But there is, I think, small wisdom in legislating about such matters,-- I doubt if it is ever done; nor are any precise written enactments about them likely to be lasting.