Loading page
say it: rool
rule is a noun and verb meaning "a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior". It carries 19 recorded senses.
a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
“it was his rule to take a walk before breakfast”
“short haircuts were the regulation”
something regarded as a normative example
“the convention of not naming the main character”
“violence is the rule not the exception”
“his formula for impressing visitors”
(linguistics) a rule describing (or prescribing) a linguistic practice
linguistics
dominance or power through legal authority
“France held undisputed dominion over vast areas of Africa”
“the rule of Caesar”
directions that define the way a game or sport is to be conducted
“he knew the rules of chess”
any one of a systematic body of regulations defining the way of life of members of a religious order
“the rule of St. Dominic”
a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system
“the principle of the conservation of mass”
“the principle of jet propulsion”
“the right-hand rule for inductive fields”
measuring stick consisting of a strip of wood or metal or plastic with a straight edge that is used for drawing straight lines and measuring lengths
be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance
“Money reigns supreme here”
“Hispanics predominate in this neighborhood”
have an affinity with; of signs of the zodiac
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for rule come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.