illegal

1. 1

   Contrary to, forbidden, or not authorized by law, especially criminal law.

   • This is illegal, you know!
   • Nearly 40 million people live in UK areas with illegal air pollution
2. 2

   Forbidden by established rules.

   • Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess.
   • The computer program performed an illegal operation and was terminated.
3. 3

   Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country.

4. 4

   Being or doing something illegally.offensivesometimes

   • illegal immigrant
   • illegal logger
5. 5

   Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally.USoffensivesometimes

1. 1

   An illegal act or technique.obsolete

   • That whatſoever illegals hath been uſed againſt his friends and ſubjects, by impriſoning them without law, or impoſing fines upon their eſtates, be diſclaimed, and that perſons ſo committed be forthwith diſcharged.
2. 2

   Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs.colloquialin-plural

   • …I've got illegals in my bottom…!
3. 3

   Ellipsis of illegal immigrant.abbreviationalt-ofcolloquial

   • In Manchester and in Aldershot in Hampshire, asylum seeker accommodation was targeted by demonstrators carrying placards that read “deport them, don’t support them” and “no apartments for illegals”.
4. 4

   A spy operating abroad illegally and under non-official cover, without visible ties to his or her country’s authorities.

   • Anna Chapman, whose glamorous appearance won her more publicity in the Western media than all the other illegals combined, was so successfully deceived by a US sting operation that she handed over her SVR laptop to an FBI agent posing as a
   • Traditionally, illegals have been extremely hard for counterintelligence agencies to find, but in a world of biometric data, facial recognition software and open source investigation possibilities, it has become harder for Russia to keep it

syn. illegal immigrant