Free Translator Free Translator
Translators Dictionaries Courses Other
Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Rule   /rul/   Listen
noun
Rule  n.  
1.
That which is prescribed or laid down as a guide for conduct or action; a governing direction for a specific purpose; an authoritative enactment; a regulation; a prescription; a precept; as, the rules of various societies; the rules governing a school; a rule of etiquette or propriety; the rules of cricket. "We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives."
2.
Hence:
(a)
Uniform or established course of things. "'T is against the rule of nature."
(b)
Systematic method or practice; as, my ule is to rise at six o'clock.
(c)
Ordibary course of procedure; usual way; comon state or condition of things; as, it is a rule to which there are many exeptions.
(d)
Conduct in general; behavior. (Obs.) "This uncivil rule; she shall know of it."
3.
The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control. "Obey them that have the rule over you." "His stern rule the groaning land obeyed."
4.
(Law) An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
5.
(Math.) A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result; as, a rule for extracting the cube root.
6.
(Gram.) A general principle concerning the formation or use of words, or a concise statement thereof; thus, it is a rule in England, that s or es, added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but "man" forms its plural "men", and is an exception to the rule.
7.
(a)
A straight strip of wood, metal, or the like, which serves as a guide in drawing a straight line; a ruler.
(b)
A measuring instrument consisting of a graduated bar of wood, ivory, metal, or the like, which is usually marked so as to show inches and fractions of an inch, and jointed so that it may be folded compactly. "A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule."
8.
(Print.)
(a)
A thin plate of metal (usually brass) of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work.
(b)
A composing rule. See under Conposing.
As a rule, as a general thing; in the main; usually; as, he behaves well, as a rule.
Board rule, Caliber rule, etc. See under Board, Caliber, etc.
Rule joint, a knuckle joint having shoulders that abut when the connected pieces come in line with each other, and thus permit folding in one direction only.
Rule of the road (Law), any of the various regulations imposed upon travelers by land or water for their mutual convenience or safety. In the United States it is a rule of the road that land travelers passing in opposite directions shall turn out each to his own right, and generally that overtaking persons or vehicles shall turn out to the left; in England the rule for vehicles (but not for pedestrians) is the opposite of this.
Rule of three (Arith.), that rule which directs, when three terms are given, how to find a fourth, which shall have the same ratio to the third term as the second has to the first; proportion. See Proportion, 5 (b).
Rule of thumb, any rude process or operation, like that of using the thumb as a rule in measuring; hence, judgment and practical experience as distinguished from scientific knowledge.


Rule  n.  Regulation; law; precept; maxim; guide; canon; order; method; direction; control; government; sway; empire.


verb
Rule  v. t.  (past & past part. ruled; pres. part. ruling)  
1.
To control the will and actions of; to exercise authority or dominion over; to govern; to manage. "A bishop then must be blameless;... one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection."
2.
To control or direct by influence, counsel, or persuasion; to guide; used chiefly in the passive. "I think she will be ruled In all respects by me."
3.
To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice. "That's are ruled case with the schoolmen."
4.
(Law) To require or command by rule; to give as a direction or order of court.
5.
To mark with lines made with a pen, pencil, etc., guided by a rule or ruler; to print or mark with lines by means of a rule or other contrivance effecting a similar result; as, to rule a sheet of paper of a blank book.
Ruled surface (Geom.), any surface that may be described by a straight line moving according to a given law; called also a scroll.


Rule  v. i.  
1.
To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority; often followed by over. "By me princes rule, and nobles." "We subdue and rule over all other creatures."
2.
(Law) To lay down and settle a rule or order of court; to decide an incidental point; to enter a rule.
3.
(Com.) To keep within a (certain) range for a time; to be in general, or as a rule; as, prices ruled lower yesterday than the day before.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Rule" Quotes from Famous Books



... easy to see that her tongue was sharper. She would not have been so soothing to an invalid, but the woman under the pear-tree had her nerves better in hand by now, and felt, somehow, upon her mettle to prove to this broad, curt Ann that there were tasks in the world beyond her sturdy rule-of-thumb. ...
— The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon • Josephine Daskam Bacon
... is a frail structure of cane and poles with a thatch of palm-leaves. On the elevated "valles," or table-plains—and here, be it observed, dwell most of the population—it is built of "adobes," and this rule is universal. On the forest-covered sides of the more elevated mountains the rancho is a house of logs, a "log-cabin," with long hanging eaves and shingled roof, differing entirely from the log-cabin of the American backwoods, and far excelling ...
— The White Chief - A Legend of Northern Mexico • Mayne Reid
... Resolution. Returns. Roll. Rules. Secondary Questions. Seconding of motions. Secretary. Separation of propositions. Speaking. Speaking member. Speech, reading of, by member. Subsidiary Questions. Suspension of a rule. Transposition of proposition. Vice-President. Voting. Will of assembly. Withdrawal of motion. ...
— Timar's Two Worlds • Mr Jkai
... on the eve of laughing at these aristocratic recollections of her aunt; and to her credit be it said, she always restrained herself, though with great difficulty. She, so wildly brought up, without rule or guidance in feminine matters, could not be brought to comprehend that prim line-and-rule life, of which her aunt was the very impersonation. Nevertheless, she heard what Miss Thornton had to say with respect; and if ever she committed an extreme ...
— The Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn • Henry Kingsley
... am willing to believe that the stultification has in most cases been unintentional; and the reason is not far to seek. In that country a great many of the critics are theologians, more or less disguised; and these gentlemen are, as a rule, quite unable to write rationally about creative literature. That enfeeblement of judgment which, at least in the case of the average man, is an inevitable consequence of prolonged occupation with theological studies, betrays ...
— Ghosts • Henrik Ibsen


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Free-Translator.com