as in law
control of an area by military forces rather than by the police
The government has declared martial law throughout the city to stop the riots. an area placed under martial law
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of martial law
The Constitutional Court began the trial on Dec. 27 to review an impeachment motion that accused Yoon of violating his constitutional duty by imposing martial law with no justifiable grounds.
—
Reuters, NBC News, 21 Jan. 2025
Following his failure to arrive for questioning about the martial law fiasco, a warrant for Yoon’s arrest was issued on Dec. 31.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 15 Jan. 2025
Early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of investigators finally entered the fortified compound in Seoul where South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol had been holed up since his mid-December impeachment over an earlier declaration of martial law that prosecutors contend amounted to insurrection.
—Charlie Campbell, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
Likewise, a surprise 25 basis point rate cut by the BOK at its November meeting, enacted before Yoon declared martial law in December, could have cushioned the blow.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for martial law 
Reuters, NBC News, 21 Jan. 2025
Following his failure to arrive for questioning about the martial law fiasco, a warrant for Yoon’s arrest was issued on Dec. 31.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 15 Jan. 2025
Early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of investigators finally entered the fortified compound in Seoul where South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol had been holed up since his mid-December impeachment over an earlier declaration of martial law that prosecutors contend amounted to insurrection.
—Charlie Campbell, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
Likewise, a surprise 25 basis point rate cut by the BOK at its November meeting, enacted before Yoon declared martial law in December, could have cushioned the blow.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for martial law
Recent Examples of Synonyms for martial law
Noun
-
By Alison Durkee In April, President Joe Biden signed a law that prohibits U.S. app stores from hosting TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, relinquishes ownership.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
-
After years of lobbying, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law on November 2, 1983.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Her first couple of years in office saw Moody pursuing initiatives against opioid abuse, human trafficking and other common law enforcement targets.—
Dan Sullivan,
Miami Herald,
17 Jan. 2025
-
The Boulder judge found that because the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act was created in addition to — not instead of — common law immunity, the latter still exists and applies despite the 2020 reform, because the 2020 law did not explicitly wipe away common law immunity.—
Shelly Bradbury,
The Denver Post,
12 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
Is that crippling ordinance in the best interests of the residents? Burr Ridge was the first municipality to be sent migrants from Chicago after Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed Illinois a sanctuary state that included migrant welcoming — but with no plan to deal with them.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Jan. 2025
-
Members of the Eastern Jackson County Tenant Union — affiliated with the citywide union KC Tenants — helped draft the ordinance.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee,
Kansas City Star,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Pérez is considering introducing the legislation as an urgency bill, a type of legislation that goes into effect immediately once signed by Governor , according to The Sacramento Bee.—
Martha McHardy,
Newsweek,
29 Jan. 2025
-
If Pritzker signs the bill into law, Illinois would join five other states that have similar measures on the books and dozens of others that have introduced legislation attempting to address warehouse workplace issues.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
DeSantis initially proposed an aggressive agenda of condominium reforms, hurricane relief and reforms to the citizen initiative process to amend the state constitution.—
Lawrence Mower,
Miami Herald,
27 Jan. 2025
-
South Korea's constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law to keep order in wartime and other comparable emergency states, but many experts say the country wasn't under such conditions when Yoon declared martial law.—
HYUNG-JIN KIM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
arkansasonline.com,
27 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to martial law
Thesaurus Entries Near martial law
Cite this Entry
“Martial law.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/martial%20law. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share