law
1the 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.: Compare bylaw, statutory law.
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).
Idioms about law
at law. See entry at at law.
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.
Origin of law
1synonym study For law
Other words from law
- law·like, adjective
Words that may be confused with law
- law , hypothesis, theory (see synonym study at theory)
Other definitions for law (2 of 5)
Other definitions for law (3 of 5)
Other definitions for law (4 of 5)
(used as an exclamation expressing astonishment.)
Origin of law
4Other definitions for Law (5 of 5)
Andrew Bon·ar [bon-er], /ˈbɒn ər/, 1858–1923, English statesman, born in Canada: prime minister 1922–23.
John, 1671–1729, Scottish financier.
William, 1686–1761, English clergyman and devotional writer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use law in a sentence
It is Mysticism, all taken out of William law, after he had lost his senses, poor man!
Aids to Reflection | Samuel Taylor ColeridgeHe made pilgrimages on foot to William law to ask for spiritual advice.
In the following century a complete edition in four large volumes was produced by some of the disciples of William law.
Dialogues on the Supersensual Life | Jacob BehmenHoadly was shrewd enough not to answer the most brilliant, though comparatively unknown, of his antagonists, William law.
I am surprised that Johnson should have pronounced William law no reasoner.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington Macaulay
British Dictionary definitions for law (1 of 4)
/ (lɔː) /
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 law
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 (def. 3)
a general principle, formula, or rule describing a phenomenon in mathematics, science, philosophy, etc: the laws of thermodynamics
the Law (capital) Judaism
short for Law of Moses
the English term for Torah See also Oral Law, Written Law
a law unto itself or a law unto himself a person or thing that is outside established laws
go to law to resort to legal proceedings on some matter
lay down the law to speak in an authoritative or dogmatic manner
reading the Law or reading of the Law Judaism that part of the morning service on Sabbaths, festivals, and Mondays and Thursdays during which a passage is read from the Torah scrolls
take the law into one's own hands to ignore or bypass the law when redressing a grievance
Origin of law
1Other words from law
- Related adjectives: judicial, jural, juridical, legal
British Dictionary definitions for law (2 of 4)
/ (lɔː) /
Scot a hill, esp one rounded in shape
Origin of law
2British Dictionary definitions for law (3 of 4)
/ (lɔː) /
a Scot word for low 1
British Dictionary definitions for Law (4 of 4)
/ (lɔː) /
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)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for law
[ lô ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with law
In addition to the idioms beginning with law
- law and order
- law of averages
- law of the jungle
- law unto oneself
also see:
- above suspicion (the law)
- lay down the law
- letter of the law
- long arm of the law
- Murphy's law
- possession is nine points of the law
- take the law into one's hands
- unwritten law
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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