Definition of "legal" []

• Of, relating to, or concerned with law: legal papers. (adjective)
• Authorized by or based on law: a legal right. (adjective)
• Established by law; statutory: the legal owner. (adjective)
• In conformity with or permitted by law: legal business operations. (adjective)
• Recognized or enforced by law rather than by equity. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "They point out that in the legal sense put forth by the constitution there is no reason to think that a fetus is a *legal* person."
• "Besides, do these illegals really want guest worker programs, or just to get all the benefits of citizenship without going through the legal process like the *legal* immigrants?"
• "The present Law Officers of the Crown were rather startled at the intention of departing from the precedent of George IV. 's reign, on seeing the legal opinions of their predecessors; they did not differ from the _legal_ doctrines laid down by them, but were not very well satisfied on the point of discretion and policy."