law
IPA: ɫˈɔ
noun
- (usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
- The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
- Common law, as contrasted with equity.
- A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
- (more generally) A rule, such as:
- Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
- A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
- A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.)
- (mathematics, logic) A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
- Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
- (linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
- (cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
- The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
- (informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
- The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
- Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
- Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
- (now uncommon) An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
- (aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
- (fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
- (law, chiefly historical) An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. (Chiefly in the phrases "wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".)
- (obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
- (Northern England, Scotland, archaic) A hill.
- (dialectal or obsolete) A score; share of expense; legal charge.
- A surname originating as a patronymic.
- A male given name Diminutive of Lawrence.
- A topographic surname from Old English, perhaps originally meaning someone who lives near a burial mound.
- (Scotland) a conical hill
- A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland, United Kingdom (OS grid ref NS8252).
- (Judaism) the five Books of Moses, particularly the commandments in it, as well as their specification in the Mishnah and their further interpretation in later religious literature
- (Christianity, biblical) the commandments in the Books of Moses, seen as transcended by Christ
- (Christianity, less often) the commandments and moral principles that are binding for Christians, such as the Decalogue, the teachings of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, etc.
- A surname from Chinese.
- (military) Acronym of light anti-tank weapon.
verb
- (obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
- (transitive, intransitive, chiefly dialectal) To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
- (nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
- (informal) To enforce the law.
- To subject to legal restrictions.
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Examples of "law" in Sentences
- Apprehension by the Ins was authorized by law.
- The passing of the law itself was utterly legal.
- It's the customary law legal system of the Somalis.
- The court decided that the operation would be lawful.
- The Chancery court was the common law court in equity.
- The constitutional tribunal upheld the legality of the law.
- So everything's legal and in conformance with the letter of the law.
- The court must refer the law against racism to the Court of Arbitration.
- The court of Chancery never claimed to override the courts of common law.
- The law provides for judicial determination of the legality of detention.