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
"We have always worked towards independence when we got home rule in 1979 and more independence in 2009."
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
Congress has given D.C. a significant measure of home rule, including control of its police force.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025
They had no choice but to pursue home rule, even at risk of fracturing or destroying their own party.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2024
No home rule proposal ever submitted in this House proposed to deprive the Imperial Parliament of the power of dealing with all questions in relation to the army and navy.
From Current History: A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times, May 1918 Vol. VIII, Part I, No. 2 by Various
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
Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the administration for its “unlawful actions” in violating the Home Rule Act of 1973, which granted the city partial autonomy.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
Even if they weren’t, though, the Home Rule Act would not authorize them.
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
Herschell’s chancellorship lasted barely six months, for in August 1886 Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill was rejected in the Commons and his administration fell.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various
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.
