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# illegal

«illegal» in Mova's school dictionary: **Not allowed by the law; against the rules of a country** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (illegal); noun (an illegal — rare, can be rude about people)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Not allowed by the law; against the rules of a country. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#m1)

2) In games: against the rules: «an illegal move». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#m2)

### sense 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x1)
- Parking here is illegal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x2)
- Selling cigarettes to children is illegal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x3)
- The referee said the tackle was illegal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x4)
- In chess, moving your king into check is an illegal move. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x5)
- Hunting this rare bird is illegal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x6)
- Is it illegal to ride a bike on the pavement? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/#x7)

### 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».

### In the corpora

- ["Recreational drugs" means illegal drugs taken for pleasure.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/30-drinking-and-drugs/19/)
- ["Party favours" is US slang for illegal drugs at a party, though it also means small party gifts.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/30-drinking-and-drugs/20/)
- [Leo: "No way, that's illegal." It isn't: play 30 rounds and count.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «illegal» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/illegal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.