home rule
noun
self-government in local matters by a city, province, state, colony, or the like.
home rule
Americannoun
home rule
1
British
noun
-
self-government, esp in domestic affairs
-
government the partial autonomy of cities and (in some states) counties, under which they manage their own affairs, with their own charters, etc, within the limits set by the state constitution and laws
-
the partial autonomy sometimes granted to a national minority or a colony
Home Rule
2
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of home rule
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, and did not gain home rule until 1979, however Copenhagen continued to oversee the healthcare system, before Greenland took responsibility in 1992.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
Congress has given D.C. a significant measure of home rule, including control of its police force.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025
Bonar Law was both a true believer in the Ulster cause and a shrewd political operator, who correctly perceived that home rule could be used to bring down Asquith and the Liberals.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2024
Under the operation of this "home rule" provision, 85 of the 102 counties of the state have adopted the township system.
From Government in the United States National, State and Local by James Wilford Garner
The aspiring writer was not as active in the Home Rule campaign, which sought to restore self-government to Ireland, as some of his friends from student years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
This is already happening in Washington, where the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gave the city limited self-government, allows Congress oversight.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026
In 1973, Congress exercised that authority by passing the Home Rule Act, which handed District residents far greater control over their own government.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025
Mayor Karen Bass, is invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act that places the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2025
The treatment of Home Rule as an idea conceivably reasonable, which was repeated at Guildhall, delighted me.
From Letters of Lord Acton To Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
