the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision.
any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution.
the controlling influence of such rules; the condition of society brought about by their observance.
maintaining law and order.
a system or collection of such rules.
the department of knowledge concerned with these rules; jurisprudence.
to study law.
the body of such rules concerned with a particular subject or derived from a particular source.
commercial law.
an act of the supreme legislative body of a state or nation, as distinguished from the constitution.
the principles applied in the courts of common law, as distinguished from equity.
the profession that deals with law and legal procedure.
to practice law.
legal action; litigation.
to go to law.
a person, group, or agency acting officially to enforce the law.
The law arrived at the scene soon after the alarm went off.
any rule or injunction that must be obeyed.
Having a nourishing breakfast was an absolute law in our household.
a rule or principle of proper conduct sanctioned by conscience, concepts of natural justice, or the will of a deity.
a moral law.
a rule or manner of behavior that is instinctive or spontaneous.
the law of self-preservation.
(in philosophy, science, etc.)
a statement of a relation or sequence of phenomena invariable under the same conditions.
a mathematical rule.
a principle based on the predictable consequences of an act, condition, etc..
the law of supply and demand.
a rule, principle, or convention regarded as governing the structure or the relationship of an element in the structure of something, as of a language or work of art.
the laws of playwriting;
the laws of grammar.
a commandment or a revelation from God.
Sometimes Law a divinely appointed order or system.
the Law. Law of Moses.
the preceptive part of the Bible, especially of the New Testament, in contradistinction to its promises.
the law of Christ.
British Sports. an allowance of time or distance given a quarry or competitor in a race, as the head start given a fox before the hounds are set after it.
Chiefly Dialect. to sue or prosecute.
British. (formerly) to expeditate (an animal).
be a law to / unto oneself, to follow one's own inclinations, rules of behavior, etc.; act independently or unconventionally, especially without regard for established mores.
lay down the law,
to state one's views authoritatively.
to give a command in an imperious manner.
The manager laid down the law to the workers.
take the law into one's own hands, to administer justice as one sees fit without recourse to the usual law enforcement or legal processes.
The townspeople took the law into their own hands before the sheriff took action.
at law. see at law.
Andrew Bonar 1858–1923, English statesman, born in Canada: prime minister 1922–23.
John, 1671–1729, Scottish financier.
William, 1686–1761, English clergyman and devotional writer.
a rule or set of rules, enforceable by the courts, regulating the government of a state, the relationship between the organs of government and the subjects of the state, and the relationship or conduct of subjects towards each other
a rule or body of rules made by the legislature See statute law
a rule or body of rules made by a municipal or other authority See bylaw
the condition and control enforced by such rules
( in combination )
lawcourt
a rule of conduct
a law of etiquette
one of a set of rules governing a particular field of activity
the laws of tennis
the legal or judicial system
the profession or practice of law
informal the police or a policeman
a binding force or statement
his word is law
Also called: law of nature. a generalization based on a recurring fact or event
the science or knowledge of law; jurisprudence
the principles originating and formerly applied only in courts of common law Compare equity
a general principle, formula, or rule describing a phenomenon in mathematics, science, philosophy, etc
the laws of thermodynamics
(capital) Judaism
short for Law of Moses
the English term for Torah See also Oral Law Written Law
a person or thing that is outside established laws
to resort to legal proceedings on some matter
to speak in an authoritative or dogmatic manner
Judaism that part of the morning service on Sabbaths, festivals, and Mondays and Thursdays during which a passage is read from the Torah scrolls
to ignore or bypass the law when redressing a grievance
Andrew Bonar (ˈbɒnə). 1858–1923, British Conservative statesman, born in Canada; prime minister (1922–23)
Denis. born 1940, Scottish footballer; a striker, he played for Manchester United (1962–73) and Scotland (30 goals in 55 games, 1958–74); European Footballer of the Year (1964)
John. 1671–1729, Scottish financier. He founded the first bank in France (1716) and the Mississippi Scheme for the development of Louisiana (1717), which collapsed due to excessive speculation
Jude . born 1972, British film actor, who starred in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), Cold Mountain (2003), and Sherlock Holmes (2009)
William. 1686–1761, British Anglican divine, best known for A Serious Call to a Holy and Devout Life (1728)
A statement that describes invariable relationships among phenomena under a specified set of conditions. Boyle's law, for instance, describes what will happen to the volume of an ideal gas if its pressure changes and its temperature remains the same. The conditions under which some physical laws hold are idealized (for example, there are no ideal gases in the real world), thus some physical laws apply universally but only approximately.
See Note at hypothesis
What is law? A law is a rule made by an authority and that must be obeyed. A law is commonly made by a government, which citizens must follow or face punishment. For example, in most places there are laws about not stealing. If you are caught stealing, you could be fined or put in jail, depending on the law broken and the punishment set up for that law. Law can be used more broadly to refer to a set of laws, such as all of a nation’s laws. To say murder is against the law is to say that murder is not allowed in the geographic area being referred to, such as a state or country. Law can also be used to describe the legal field, especially as a career, as in Zola had always dreamed of a career in law, so she studied hard in law school. In the sciences, a law is an indisputable fact about the way the world and the forces in it work. Such laws explain what happens but do not describe why it happens. Example: I believe it is against the law to set up security cameras without posting a sign on the door.
See theory.
First recorded before 1000; Middle English law(e), lagh(e), Old English lagu, from unattested Old Norse lagu, early plural of lag “layer, stratum, a laying in order, fixed tune, (in collective sense) law”; akin to lay 1, lie 2
First recorded in 1580–90; form of lord
Law has to do with rules and legal systems. If you live by the letter of the law, you follow society's guidelines to a T: you cross at the corner and always wait until the light is green. A law is a rule that specifies what you can and can't do. Laws govern communities, countries, and even the world. Your town might have a leash law for dog owners, and international law prohibits throwing garbage off a boat. You can also refer to the police as "the law," as in "Don’t make me call the law." Law also refers to the entire legal system: We are all equal before the law (at least in theory).
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California’s recyclable packaging law prohibits manufacturers from using a “chasing arrows” recycling symbol on products or materials unless they are actually being recycled in a meaningful way, which the law quantifies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The existence of a private contract between the firm and the court had never been revealed before, because federal law did not require disclosure.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Times, for its part, called the subpoenas “an extraordinary escalation” and said the appearance of federal law enforcement at journalists’ homes should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the First Amendment.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Lecornu has asked the constitutional council to focus on three aspects of the law:
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Is our young playwright in trouble with the law? I am disappointed to hear it. He hardly seemed the type.”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
This doesn’t mean that residents have access to a kind of Megan’s Law list to be able to find out who is brewing what chemistry concoctions in their neighborhoods, though.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Lins Law Group in Tampa, Fla., says your problem is not an unusual one: “Not uncommonly, we have clients come into the office after a loved one has died and ask for some assistance.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
"Anthropomorphic AI can soothe loneliness," said Chen Liang of the Southwest University of Political Science and Law in a commentary published by the CAC after a draft version of China's rules was published in April.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hillsborough Law campaigners, including those whose family members were killed in the 1989 disaster, welcomed the return of the bill to the Commons.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
And of course, Murphy’s Law, the year my mom started buying my clothes too big was the year that I stopped growing.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
A 2022 a BBC Disclosure investigation uncovered claims of inappropriate behaviour by Watt towards female staff, and revealed that Brewdog violated import laws and fabricated many of its marketing stories.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
If it’s a small estate, a designated successor acting under state laws would receive the details.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Paramount, in a statement, blasted the lawsuit from the state attorneys general, saying it “reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Another is the phenomenon of children born to temporary visitors, given “changes in immigration laws and travel.”
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
Madison, and to an even greater extent Jefferson, seemed to think that economic policy consisted of getting out of the way to allow the natural laws of economic recovery and growth to proceed.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
