RULE, n. [L. regula, from rego, to govern, that is, to stretch, strain or make straight.]

1. Government; sway; empire; control; supreme command or authority. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame. Prov. xvii. And his stern rule the groaning land obey'd. Pope.
2. That which is established as a principle, standard or directory; that by which any thing is to be adjusted or regulated, or to which it is to be conformed; that which is settled by authority or custom for guidance and direction. Thus a statute or law is a rule of civil conduct; a canon is a rule of ecclesiastical government; the precept or command of a father, is a rule of action or obedience to children; precedents in law are rules of decision to judges; maxims and customs furnish rules for regulating our social opinions and manners. The laws of God are rules for directing us in life, paramount to all others. A rule which you do not apply, is no rule at all. J. M. Mason.
3. An instrument by which lines are drawn. A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule. South.
4. Established mode or course of proceeding prescribed in private life. Every man should have some fixed rules for managing his own affairs.
5. In literature, a maxim, canon or precept to be observed in any art or science. Encyc.
6. In monasteries, corporations or societies, a law or regulation to be observed by the society and its particular members.
7. In courts, rules are the determinations and orders of court, to be observed by its officers in conducting the business of the court.
8. In arithmetic and algebra, a determinate mode prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
9. In grammar, an established form of construction in a particular class of words; or the expression of that form in words. Thus it is a rule in English, that s or es, added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but man forms its plural men, and is an exception to the rule. Rule of three, is that rule of arithmetic which directs, when three terms are given, how to find a fourth, which shall have the same ratio to the third term, as the second has to the first.

To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority. By me princes rule. Prov. viii. It is often followed by over. They shall rule over their oppressors. Is. xiv. We subdue and rule aver all other creatures. Ray.

1. To govern; to control the will and actions of others, either by arbitrary power and authority, or by established laws. The emperors of the East rule their subjects without the restraints of a constitution. In limited governments, men are ruled by known laws. If a man know not how to rule his own house, now shall he take care of the church of God? 1 Tim. iii.
2. To govern the movements of things; to conduct; to manage; to control. That God rules the world he has created, is a fundamental article of belief.
3. To manage; to conduct, in almost any manner.
4. To settle as by a rule. That's a ruled case with the schoolmen. Atterbury.
5. To mark with lines by a ruler; as, to rule a blank book.
6. To establish by decree or decision; to determine; as a court.

1. That which is prescribed or laid down as a guide for conduct or action; a governing direction for a specific purpose; an authoritative enactment; a regulation; a prescription; a precept; as, the rules of various societies; the rules governing a school; a rule of etiquette or propriety; the rules of cricket.
   
   

   We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives. Tillotson.

2. To control the will and actions of] to exercise authority or dominion over; to govern; to manage.
   
   
   Chaucer.

   A bishop then must be blameless; . . . one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection. 1 Tim. iii. 2, 4.

3. To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority; -- often followed by over.
   
   

   By me princes rule, and nobles. Prov. viii. 16.

   We subdue and rule over all other creatures. Ray.

4. A number of cards of the same suit in sequence; as, a run of four in hearts.
5. Uniform or established course of things.
   
   

   'T is against the rule of nature. Shak.

   (b)

6. To control or direct by influence, counsel, or persuasion; to guide; -- used chiefly in the passive.
   
   

   I think she will be ruled
   In all respects by me. Shak.

7. To lay down and settle a rule or order of court; to decide an incidental point; to enter a rule.
   
   
   Burril. Bouvier.
8. The movement communicated to a golf ball by running.
   
   
   (b)
9. The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.
   
   

   Obey them that have the rule over you. Heb. xiii. 17.

   His stern rule the groaning land obeyed. Pope.

10. To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice.
    
    

    That's are ruled case with the schoolmen. Atterbury.

11. To keep within a (certain) range for a time; to be in general, or as a rule; as, prices ruled lower yesterday than the day before.
12. An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
    
    
    Wharton.
13. To require or command by rule; to give as a direction or order of court.
14. A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result; as, a rule for extracting the cube root.
15. To mark with lines made with a pen, pencil, etc., guided by a rule or ruler; to print or mark with lines by means of a rule or other contrivance effecting a similar result; as, to rule a sheet of paper of a blank book.
    
    

    Ruled surface (Geom.), any surface that may be described by a straight line moving according to a given law; -- called also a scroll.

16. A general principle concerning the formation or use of words, or a concise statement thereof; thus, it is a rule in England, that s or es , added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but "man" forms its plural "men", and is an exception to the rule.
17. A straight strip of wood, metal, or the like, which serves as a guide in drawing a straight line; a ruler.
    
    
    (b)
18. A thin plate of metal (usually brass) of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work.
    
    
    (b)