| 释义 |
illegal, a. and n.|ɪˈliːgəl|
[a. F. illégal (14th c.) or ad. med.L. illegālis, f. il- (il-2) + legālis legal.]
A. adj.
1. a. Not legal or lawful; contrary to, or forbidden by, law.
1626[implied in illegalness]. 1639Fuller Holy War ii. viii. (1647) 54 Gibellinus..concluded the election of Ebremarus to be illegall and void. a1654Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 75 In all times the Princes in England have done something illegal, to get money. 1769Junius Lett. xxxv. 166 They have set aside a return as illegal. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 925 Intended for carrying on an illegal commerce. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 605 To print such a tract without the approbation of the licenser was illegal.
†b. Lawless, irregular. Obs. rare.
1728R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 20 How preferable the Beauties of ancient Architecture are to the illegal Practices of our modern Builders.
2. Special Comb.: illegal immigrant, orig. a Jew who entered or attempted to enter Palestine without official permission during the later years of the British mandate; now used more generally; so illegal immigration; illegal operation, an abortion procured illegally.
1939Times 31 May 11/1 These illegal immigrants come practically penniless, and have no documents to indicate their origin. 1946Times 23 Sept. 4/3 The British ‘clamp down’ on illegal immigrants. 1949Koestler Promise & Fulfilment vi. 59 The hunting down of ‘illegal immigrants’ became gradually an obsession with the Palestine authorities. 1963J. Joesten They call it Intelligence ii. viii. 73 Once in this country, Abel headed straight for New York, a good place for an illegal immigrant. 1970[see B. n. 1]. 1970Times 2 July 1/4 Police..took away 40 men who had come from the Punjab... All the men had been established as illegal immigrants.
1939Times 31 May 11/1 Illegal immigration into Palestine probably dates back to Turkish times, but it is now assuming alarming proportions. 1969New Yorker 29 Nov. 151/1 Moshe Pearlman..an organiser of illegal immigration to Palestine..for all his wit and sophistication, still takes his Zionism very seriously.
1910Chesterton G. B. Shaw 145 Mr. Granville Barker's play of Waste, in which the woman dies from an illegal operation. 1927Rev. Eng. Stud. Oct. 433 There is a very interesting misuse of words..due..to a yet older human failing: taboo. As instances may serve lavatory, illegal operation, social evil, a certain disease. 1938‘M. Benney’ Scapegoat Dances iv. 46 He had given his knowledge, time, and money to relieving the distresses of the street-walkers..when necessary, performing illegal operations on them. 1943G. Greene Ministry of Fear i. ii. 24 A man who deals in something disreputable—pornographic books or illegal operations. 1958New Statesman 7 June 722/1 Estimates suggest that something like 200,000 illegal operations are performed every year in this country.
B. n.
1. = illegal immigrant.
1939Times 31 May 11/1 Placing the illegals in concentration camps is no solution. 1946Koestler Thieves in Night 328 The old tramper was lost—but there were two others on their way with eight hundred illegals this time. 1960H. Agar Saving Remnant viii. 208 The British announced that all future ‘illegals’ would be taken to Cyprus. 1970Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 1 Feb. 29/4 In the year 1968 alone 142,000 illegal immigrants were caught... There is no onus upon an employer not to take on illegals.
2. A Soviet secret agent working in a foreign country.
1968W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze xii. 133 An Illegal's first job was to pass vital information with the minimum of delay. 1969― Us or Them War xxxiii. 251 What if he'd come over as an ‘illegal’, with a long-term programme? 1969H. MacInnes Salzburg Connection xx. 281 We'd like to catch that colonel and the rest of his illegals. |