(a.) 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.
(a.) Uniform or established course of things.
(a.) Systematic method or practice; as, my ule is to rise at six
o'clock.
(a.) Ordibary course of procedure; usual way; comon state or
condition of things; as, it is a rule to which there are many
exeptions.
(a.) Conduct in general; behavior.
(a.) The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire;
authority; control.
(a.) An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order
made between parties to an action or a suit.
(a.) A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation
and producing a certain result; as, a rule for extracting the cube
root.
(a.) 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.
(a.) A straight strip of wood, metal, or the like, which serves as
a guide in drawing a straight line; a ruler.
(a.) 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.) 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.
(a.) A composing rule. See under Conposing.
(n.) To control the will and actions of; to exercise authority or
dominion over; to govern; to manage.
(n.) To control or direct by influence, counsel, or persuasion; to
guide; -- used chiefly in the passive.
(n.) To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by
universal or general consent, or by common practice.
(n.) To require or command by rule; to give as a direction or
order of court.
(n.) 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.
(v. i.) To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority;
-- often followed by over.
(v. i.) To lay down and settle a rule or order of court; to decide
an incidental point; to enter a rule.
(v. i.) 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.
