Definition of GOVERN

govern

Plural: governs

Verb

Verb Forms: governed, governing, governs

  • To rule or direct the policy and affairs of.
  • bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations
  • direct or strongly influence the behavior of
    • "His belief in God governs his conduct"
  • exercise authority over; as of nations
    • "Who is governing the country now?"
  • require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood
    • "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German"
  • To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
  • To exercise political authority; to run a government.
  • To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
  • To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
  • To have or exercise a determining influence.
  • To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).
  • To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
  • To direct the course of, to guide in some direction, to steer.
  • To look after, to take care of, to tend to (someone or some plant).
  • To manage, to control, to work (a tool or mechanical device).
  • To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.

Noun

  • The act of governing

Examples

  • a student who could not govern his impulses
  • A true Words With Friends master must GOVERN their tile rack with precision.
  • a valve that governs fuel intake
  • Chance governs the outcome of many card games.
  • Govern yourselves like civilized people.
  • The old king governed the land wisely.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English governen, governe, from Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, guverner, from Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, govern”).

Antonyms

deregulate

Scrabble Score: 10

govern: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
govern: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
govern: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

govern: valid Words With Friends Word