- present participle of rule.
ruling
Americannoun
-
rulings
plural
adjective
-
governing or dominating.
the ruling party.
-
controlling; predominating.
the ruling factor in recovery from an illness.
-
widespread; prevalent.
ruling prices; ruling values.
noun
-
a decision of someone in authority, such as a judge
-
one or more parallel ruled lines
adjective
-
controlling or exercising authority
the ruling classes
-
prevalent or predominant
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
The court ruling from Judge Robert Brown said that hired legal representation from the council was "surprisingly combative" and found parts of the legal representation for the council "totally irrelevant" and "most unhelpful".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Beth then sued MI5 at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, and in 2024 she sought a review of a ruling at the High Court.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In a three-sentence ruling, the justices held that the federal government would likely lose on the legal question of the U.S.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Many watched the verdict live Wednesday on a screen in a square in the capital, Pristina, where a countdown clock had been ticking down to the ruling for days.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
I’m guessing he’s nineteen or twenty, but I’m not ruling out he’s our age.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
The insurers allege that Wise published confidential information in his petition and ignored past judicial rulings that raised concerns about how publicity could affect policyholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
By 1906, four years after Hoy’s final game, that practice was widespread and by 1908 umpires were required to use visible hand signals alongside verbal calls so players, fielders and fans could understand rulings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
The ICJ's rulings are binding but it has no power to enforce them.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
They discuss Gorsuch’s key rulings to date, his unpredictability, and how he’s shaped the court—and our country—for decades to come.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026
Legal rulings empowered people with developmental disabilities to refuse treatment and created rights for the mentally disabled that made forced institutionalization much less common.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
