rule

American  

[rool] / rul /

noun

• rules
  plural

1. a principle or regulation governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc..

   the rules of chess.

   Synonyms:

   order, dictate, decree, regulation, law, guideline, bylaw, standard, precept

2. the code of regulations observed by a religious order or congregation.

   the Franciscan rule.

3. the customary or normal circumstance, occurrence, manner, practice, quality, etc..

   the rule rather than the exception.

4. control, government, or dominion.

   under the rule of a dictator.

   Synonyms:

   tyranny, oppression, mastery, domination, regulation, management, government, direction, sway, power, dominion, command, authority

5. tenure or conduct of reign or office.

   during the rule of George III.

6. a prescribed mathematical method for performing a calculation or solving a problem.

7. ruler.

8. Astronomy. Rule, the constellation Norma.

9. Printing. a thin, type-high strip of metal, for printing a solid or decorative line or lines.

10. Law.

    1. a formal order or direction made by a court, as for governing the procedure of the court general rule or for sending the case before a referee special rule.

    2. a legal principle.

    3. a court order in a particular case.

11. Penology. rules, (formerly)

    1. a fixed area in the neighborhood of certain prisons within which certain prisoners were allowed to live.

    2. the freedom of such an area.

12. Obsolete. behavior.

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verb (used with object)

• rules,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ruled,
  past participle,  past
• ruling
  present participle

1. to control or direct; exercise dominating power, authority, or influence over; govern.

   to rule the empire with severity.

2. to decide or declare judicially or authoritatively; decree.

   The judge ruled that he should be exiled.

   Synonyms:

   judge, dictate

3. to mark with lines, especially parallel straight lines, with the aid of a ruler or the like.

   to rule paper.

4. to mark out or form (a line) by this method.

   to rule lines on paper.

5. to be superior or preeminent in (a specific field or group); dominate by superiority; hold sway over.

   For centuries, England ruled the seas.

verb (used without object)

• rules,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ruled,
  past participle,  past
• ruling
  present participle

1. to exercise dominating power or influence; predominate.

2. to exercise authority, dominion, or sovereignty.

3. to make a formal decision or ruling, as on a point at law.

4. to be prevalent or current.

   Higher prices ruled throughout France.

verb phrase

1. rule out

   1. to prove to be unrelated or not for consideration; eliminate; exclude.

      to rule out the possibility of error.

   2. to make impossible or impracticable.

      The rainstorm ruled out the holiday camping.

idioms

1. as a rule, generally; usually.

   He arrives at eleven o'clock, as a rule.

2. rule the roost. roost.

rule British  

/ ruːl /

noun

1. an authoritative regulation or direction concerning method or procedure, as for a court of law, legislative body, game, or other human institution or activity

   judges' rules

   play according to the rules

2. the exercise of governmental authority or control

   the rule of Caesar

3. the period of time in which a monarch or government has power

   his rule lasted 100 days

4. a customary form or procedure; regular course of action

   he made a morning swim his rule

5. the common order of things; normal condition

   violence was the rule rather than the exception

6. a prescribed method or procedure for solving a mathematical problem, or one constituting part of a computer program, usually expressed in an appropriate formalism

7. a formal expression of a grammatical regularity in a linguistic description of a language

8. any of various devices with a straight edge for guiding or measuring; ruler

   a carpenter's rule

9. 1. a printed or drawn character in the form of a long thin line

   2. another name for dash 1

      en rule

      em rule

   3. a strip of brass or other metal used to print such a line

10. Christianity a systematic body of prescriptions defining the way of life to be followed by members of a religious order

11. law an order by a court or judge

12. normally or ordinarily

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verb

1. to exercise governing or controlling authority over (a people, political unit, individual, etc)

   he ruled for 20 years

   his passion for her ruled his life

2. (when tr, often takes a clause as object) to decide authoritatively; decree

   the chairman ruled against the proposal

3. (tr) to mark with straight parallel lines or make one straight line, as with a ruler

   to rule a margin

4. (tr) to restrain or control

   to rule one's temper

5. (intr) to be customary or prevalent

   chaos rules in this school

6. (intr) to be pre-eminent or superior

   football rules in the field of sport

7. (tr) astrology (of a planet) to have a strong affinity with certain human attributes, activities, etc, associated with (one or sometimes two signs of the zodiac)

   Mars rules Aries

8. to be pre-eminent; be in charge

rule More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing rule

• as a rule
• exception proves the rule
• ground rules

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Synonym Usage

See principle. Rule, administer, command, govern, manage mean to exercise authoritative guidance or direction. Rule implies the exercise of authority as by a sovereign: to rule a kingdom. Administer places emphasis on the planned and orderly procedures used: to administer the finances of an institution. Command suggests military authority and the power to exact obedience; to be in command of: to command a ship. To govern is authoritatively to guide or direct persons or things, especially in the affairs of a large administrative unit: to govern a state. To manage is to conduct affairs, i.e., to guide them in a unified way toward a definite goal, or to direct or control people, often by tact, address, or artifice: to manage a business.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-rule
  noun
• subrule
  noun
• underrule
  noun
• underrule
  verb
• interrule
  verb (used with object)
• rulable
  adjective
• unruled
  adjective
• well-ruled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rules
  plural

Participles

• ruling
  present
• ruled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rule
  simple
• rules
  simple
• have ruled
  perfect
• has ruled
  perfect
• am ruling
  progressive
• are ruling
  progressive
• is ruling
  progressive
• have been ruling
  perfect progressive
• has been ruling
  perfect progressive

Past

• ruled
  simple
• had ruled
  perfect
• was ruling
  progressive
• were ruling
  progressive
• had been ruling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rule
  simple
• will have ruled
  perfect
• will be ruling
  progressive
• will have been ruling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of rule

First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English riule, reule, from Old French riule, from Latin rēgula “straight stick, pattern” ( see regula); (verb) Middle English riwlen, reulen, rewellen, from Old French riuler, rieuler, ruler, from Late Latin rēgulāre, derivative of rēgula

Explanation

A rule is a regulation or direction for doing some particular activity. If you have a "no shoes" rule at your house, it means everyone has to take them off at the door. Other than laws or conditions about what can't and can't be done, rules can be tried-and-true tips like a grammar rule about subject-verb agreement or a spelling rule about making a singular noun plural. Rule can also pertain to power — how someone handles it or how long it lasts, like the peaceful rule of a king whose rule lasted 50 years.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rule rules ruled ruling

One rule of thumb in investing is that the older one gets, the more conservative the investment portfolio should be in order to prevent stock-market volatility from wrecking retirement plans.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

The blanket rule is not a moral position.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

But Rangzen’s fellow exiled Tibetans, who have struggled to win international attention for their opposition to Chinese communist rule, greeted his passing with anguish -- and respect.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

B'Tselem described the decision to indict Levy as the "exception that proves the rule".

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

It wasn’t a rule, but they didn’t usually hang out with the people who owned the property they parked on.

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Another one of my rules for dating was: “If you can’t lift me, you can’t date me.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Other financial advisers cautioned that everyone’s financial situations and retirement plans are different, so general rules of thumb don’t always apply.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

This test would ensure that bad actors can’t hide behind fake decentralization to dodge anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

They argued that no such revelations should be made until the court rules on an objection to the order requiring the disclosure.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

It was against the rules, and I liked rules too much to break them all willy-nilly.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

An alleged confession by a suspect in the Lockerbie bombing will be allowed as evidence in a trial in the United States, a judge has ruled.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

He was selected in the England T20 squad the year before for their series against New Zealand, but was then ruled out through injury.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Dayanara Nicole Urbina Ruiz, 21, died July 30 from blunt-force trauma injuries in what local officials have ruled an accident, according to the King County medical examiner’s office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The commission ruled against Mr. MacCarthy on that claim but then appeared as a party to defend its ruling when he appealed to New Jersey state court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

It was brought to Alexandria by Caesar Augustus when the Roman Empire ruled our land.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

The ruling, made in June, does not impact on Supermac's trading in Ireland.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Beyond the financial hit, the ruling orders Meta to impose screen-time limits for underage users and hide their photos’ “like” counts by default—a potential hit to platform engagement metrics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Judge Martinez-Olguin echoed those concerns in her ruling, noting that the new legal services agreements appeared to cover only a fraction of the services needed and failed to explain how compliance would be monitored.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

In his ruling, New Mexico Judge Bryan Biedscheid also noted that teenagers are particularly susceptible to features that are designed to boost engagement such as autoplay, infinite scrolling, like counts, push notifications and algorithmic recommendations.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

The three-judge panel issued a ruling lifting the stay on a district judge’s injunction to not enforce the ban on same-sex marriages.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• decree
• guideline
• law
• order
• precedent
• regulation
• ruling
• statute
• test