Dictionary

blue law en · NOUN

Etymology

Unknown.

Meanings

1. (Canada, US, historical) A restrictive religious-based law in colonial New England, especially preventing leisure activities on a Sunday.
   • Years ago, because of the Blue Laws, we couldn't serve drinks on Sunday over the bar, so we set up tables in the aisles. And we'd have different acts on a stage up front. 1976 February 7, Rose Flower, quoting Jimmy McGrath, “Playland: The Friendliest Place In Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 32, page 13:
2. (Canada, US, broadly) Any puritanical or restrictive law, especially one that prohibits or restricts commercial activity on a Sunday.
   • [I]t's actually a way around the Swiss blue laws demanding that shops close from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. The laws apply everywhere but the airport, so they built a massive supermarket in the Swiss Air terminal. 2001, David Sedaris, diary entry January 22, in Theft by Finding, Back Bay Books 2017, p. 441

Forms