Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Adhering to the law.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Abiding or standing by the law; obedient to law: as, law - abiding citizens.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Abiding the law; waiting for the operation of law for the enforcement of rights; also, abiding by the law; obedient to the law.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Obeying the laws of society; not a
lawbreaker ; without acriminal record .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of individuals) adhering strictly to laws and rules and customs
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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People of this type, who are otherwise law-abiding and patriotic and well-intentioned, protect bootleggers and otherwise violate the Volstead Act with the same faith in the justice of their actions that a group of Middle Western Americans would have in evading a law that prohibited them from planting corn . . .
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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Nicking people for carrying work knives is a pretty good way of alienating the generally law-abiding public.
Inspector Gadget RANTS about ‘car chases’ SHOCK! « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2010
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But the minute you tell me that such information * has* to be known, accurate and up-to-date at all times, along with much more personal information, by law … that is the day I stop being a law-abiding citizen.
Criminals Insist On Being Naughty SHOCK! « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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The vast majority of the general public are not ‘underclass’, but decent, honest, law-abiding, hard-working people.
Police Rudeness Shock « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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We have had more interaction with decent, working and law-abiding citizens in this period than in the last five years of target-driven nonsense policing.
They Just Don’t Get It. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2010
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My point, distilled, is how do you coppers feel when you see this Goverment making more and more laws that tend to isolate you from your natural alies, the law-abiding public?
Consultation My Arse! « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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Everybody I have spoken to about this, law-abiding people every one, thinks it is outrageous.
Replace Police With Spin Doctors « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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Let your federation lobby the government and your senior officers to get rid of the target culture, bureaucracy and political correctness and you would have the law-abiding public massively on your side (believe it or not).
Replace Police With Spin Doctors « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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What people want the police to do is pretty simple: hinder the criminals, and help the law-abiding.
You Have Mistaken Me For Someone Else « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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I remember learning about 30 years ago that the police in France were hated (hated?) by the entire French population, young, old, working class, law-abiding and criminal.
Replace Police With Spin Doctors « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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