Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fugitive from the law.
- n. A habitual criminal.
- n. A rebel; a nonconformist: a social outlaw.
- n. A person excluded from normal legal protection and rights.
- n. A wild or vicious horse or other animal.
- v. To declare illegal: outlawed the sale of firearms.
- v. To place under a ban; prohibit: outlawed smoking in the house.
- v. To deprive (one declared to be a criminal fugitive) of the protection of the law.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who is excluded from the benefit of the law, or deprived of its protection. Formerly it was lawful in Great Britain for any one to kill such a person. See outlawry.
- n. A disorderly person living in defiant violation of the law; a habitual criminal.
- n. Synonyms Robber, bandit, brigand, freebooter, highwayman, marauder.
- To deprive of the benefit and protection of law; declare an outlaw; proscribe.
- To remove from legal jurisdiction; deprive of legal force. An obligation which by reason of the lapse of time has become barred by the statute of limitations, so that no action will lie on it, is said to be outlawed.
- n. A vicious, untamed animal: sometimes used attributively.
Wiktionary
- n. A fugitive from the law.
- n. A person who is excluded from normal legal rights.
- n. A person who operates outside established norms.
- n. A wild horse.
- n. humorous An in-law: a relative by marriage.
- v. To declare illegal
- v. To place a ban upon
- v. To remove from legal jurisdiction or enforcement.
- v. To deprive of legal force.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A person excluded from the benefit of the law, or deprived of its protection.
- n. A person engaging habitually in criminal activity, especially theft or robbery; an habitually lawless person, especially one who is a fugitive from the law.
- v. To deprive of the benefit and protection of law; to declare to be an outlaw.
- v. To remove from legal jurisdiction or enforcement; ; to deprive of legal force.
- v. To render illegal; to ban, prohibit, or proscribe under sanction of some penalty.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. disobedient to or defiant of law
- adj. contrary to or forbidden by law
- v. declare illegal; outlaw.
- n. someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
Etymologies
- From Middle English outlaue ("banished"), Old English ūtlaga ("outlaw"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English outlaue, from Old English ūtlaga, from Old Norse ūtlagi, from ūtlagr, outlawed, banished : ūt, out; + lög, law. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“we outlaw a member of our own society and belonging to our own country; but to _outlaw_ the chiefs of another country is something too absurd; I fear the English language is not much studied at the Cape.”
“Dorothy Provine, 75, an actress who played the title outlaw in the film "The Bonnie Parker Story" and was the high-kicking flapper in the 1960s TV series "The Roaring 20's," died April 25 at a hospice near her home in Bremerton, Wash.”
The Washington Post: Actress Dorothy Provine dies; played Bonnie Parker in film, Pinky Pinkham on TV
“Dorothy Provine, a stunningly beautiful actress who starred as the title outlaw in "The Bonnie Parker Story" (1958) and then as a flapper showgirl in the short-lived TV drama "The Roaring Twenties," died April 25.”
The Washington Post: Dorothy Provine, Flapper and Outlaw, Dies
“Raging street battles began Tuesday in Basra after the government led a crackdown on what it calls outlaw or rogue militants.”
“Mr. Bush will not say Iraq had a role in organizing 9/11, but he will say the gravest danger in the war on terror is what he calls outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.”
“And then they found the word outlaw and they decided that would smooth it out a little bit.”
“California's Secretary of State says an initiative that would again outlaw gay marriage in the state has qualified for the November ballot.”
“Officer, it was an outlaw from the East Japan Club …”
“He felt that he had lost not only his partner and patron, but that he was bankrupt in honor, and an outlaw from the business community.”
“I shall find her, and the titled outlaw who stole her.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘outlaw’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Bad Options
words for those who commit particular crimes: i.e., bank robber, arsonist, etc.
liar, cheat, traitor, arsonist, felon, braggard, thief, profiteer, impostor, phony, fraud, culprit and 212 more...
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Perponyms
List of words referent to persons who commit specific crimes, or are suspected of committing those crimes, beginning with arsonist and safecracker.
Check out reesetee's nice Bad Guys l...arsonist, safecracker, murderer, rapist, getaway man, jewel thief, accomplice, drug dealer, carjacker, gunrunner, industrial spy, human trafficker and 216 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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scoundrels and bastards
already several of these lists, but I wanted my own
varlet, scoundrel, slubberdegullion, bastard, hooligan, boor, churl, thug, cad, ne'er-do-well, miscreant, minx and 85 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Living outside the status quo
cardsharp, grifter, heist, heroine, mercenary, rapscallion, rogue, truant, renegade, outlaw, rebel, sedition and 4 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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Mythic America
I'm using "myth" NOT in the sense of "fiction" but of larger-than-life. This is not a list of important people or events in American history, or it would be much longer. It's a list of people, even...
george washington, lewis and clark, sacagawea, sacajawea, molly pitcher, bunker hill, gunfighter, outlaw, citizen soldier, valley forge, melting pot, betsy ross and 107 more...
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Words I will probably never use
décolleté, pendragon, amerce, viviparous, dragoon, brigand, outlaw, outlawry, lugubrious, boor, contretemps, decrepit and 151 more...
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Dain's Words
rabble, terminus, archaic, atavism, demiurge, waylay, syzygy, jocoserious, quark, entropy, cinnabar, shamble and 912 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Stop that you (______)
Names that nobody loves to be called, much to my chagrin.
hooligan, hoodlum, scoundrel, renegade, outlaw, yahoo, dog, rebel, traitor, villain, beast, brute and 11 more...
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D's Words
If you could "tag" people....
allemande, bebop, excessive, assiduous, bailiwick, bandana, befuddle, busker, disconcerting, clothespin, cogitate, cultivar and 55 more...
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Bad Guys
For more badness, see hernesheir's excellent Perponyms.
rascal, scoundrel, blackguard, mountebank, rapscallion, scamp, miscreant, knave, scapegrace, rogue, charlatan, hoodlum and 65 more...
Tweets
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