- rule
- [[t]ru͟ːl[/t]]
♦rules, ruling, ruled1) N-COUNT: oft N of n, N num Rules are instructions that tell you what you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do.
...a thirty-two-page pamphlet explaining the rules of basketball...
Sikhs were expected to adhere strictly to the religious rules concerning appearance...
Strictly speaking, this was against the rules.
...the amendment to Rule 22.
2) N-COUNT: oft N for/of n A rule is a statement telling people what they should do in order to achieve success or a benefit of some kind.An important rule is to drink plenty of water during any flight...
By and large, the rules for healthy eating are the same during pregnancy as at any other time.
3) N-COUNT: oft N of n The rules of something such as a language or a science are statements that describe the way that things usually happen in a particular situation.It is a rule of English that adjectives generally precede the noun they modify.
...according to the rules of quantum theory.
4) N-SING: the N If something is the rule, it is the normal state of affairs.However, for many Americans today, weekend work has unfortunately become the rule rather than the exception.
5) VERB The person or group that rules a country controls its affairs.[V n] For four centuries, he says, foreigners have ruled Angola...
He ruled for eight months.
[V over n] ...the long line of feudal lords who had ruled over this land.
N-UNCOUNT: usu supp NRule is also a noun....demands for an end to one-party rule.
6) VERB If something rules your life, it influences or restricts your actions in a way that is not good for you.[V n] Scientists have always been aware of how fear can rule our lives and make us ill.
7) VERB When someone in authority rules that something is true or should happen, they state that they have officially decided that it is true or should happen. [FORMAL][V that] The court ruled that laws passed by the assembly remained valid...
[V on n] The Israeli court has not yet ruled on the case...
[V n adj/n] A provincial magistrates' court last week ruled it unconstitutional...
[V against n] Kenneth Clarke, the home secretary, ruled against her being allowed to stay in Britain. [Also V in favour of n]
Syn:8) VERB If you rule a straight line, you draw it using something that has a straight edge.[V-ed] ...a ruled grid of horizontal and vertical lines. [Also V n]
9) → See also , ground rule, , slide rule10) PHRASE: PHR with cl If you say that something happens as a rule, you mean that it usually happens.As a rule, however, such attacks have been aimed at causing damage rather than taking life.
As a general rule, burglars are wary about gaining entry from the front or side of a building.
Syn:generally, usually11) PHRASE: V inflects If someone in authority bends the rules or stretches the rules, they do something even though it is against the rules.There happens to be a particular urgency in this case, and it would help if you could bend the rules.
12) PHRASE: rule inflects A rule of thumb is a rule or principle that you follow which is not based on exact calculations, but rather on experience.A good rule of thumb is that a broker must generate sales of ten times his salary if his employer is to make a profit...
As a rule of thumb, a cup of filter coffee contains about 80mg of caffeine.
13) PHRASE: V inflects If workers work to rule, they protest by working according to the rules of their job without doing any extra work or taking any new decisions. [BRIT]Nurses are continuing to work to rule.
Phrasal Verbs:- rule in- rule out
English dictionary. 2008.
