ruling
Americannoun
adjective
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governing or dominating.
the ruling party.
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controlling; predominating.
the ruling factor in recovery from an illness.
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widespread; prevalent.
ruling prices; ruling values.
noun
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a decision of someone in authority, such as a judge
-
one or more parallel ruled lines
adjective
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controlling or exercising authority
the ruling classes
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prevalent or predominant
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ruling
1175–1225; Middle English (gerund); see rule, -ing 1, -ing 2
Explanation
The official decision a judge makes is a ruling. You can also use this word as an adjective, to describe something or someone in charge, like a ruling political party. The group with political power in a country might be described as the ruling coalition, and the government itself could be called the ruling authority. When it's a noun, the word ruling has a legal meaning: it's the court's opinion. This definition dates from the 1550s, from the verb rule, from its Latin root regula, "straight stick or bar."
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.
In the U.K. if the ruling party changes its leader it means a new inhabitant of 10 Downing Street, even without a fresh national poll.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
The ruling builds directly on the Humphrey precedent from 2021, a California Supreme Court decision that first held wealth-based detention unconstitutional and a case I helped bring.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
In her ruling, Hwang found that California state parks had violated the federal Endangered Species Act by permitting too much activity near the birds without having obtained an “incidental take” permit.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
Wall Street is now awaiting the judge to rule on how the court will seek to mitigate the monopoly ruling.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
He and his followers believed that numbers were the ruling principle of the universe, and that musical harmonies were a basic expression of the mathematical laws of the universe.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
