Definition of LAW

law

Plural: laws

Noun

  • the collection of rules imposed by authority
    • "civilization presupposes respect for the law"
  • legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity
    • "there is a law against kidnapping"
  • a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
  • a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature
    • "the laws of thermodynamics"
  • the branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
  • the learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system
    • "he studied law at Yale"
  • the force of policemen and officers
    • "the law came looking for him"
  • The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
  • 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.
  • The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
  • Common law, as contrasted with equity.
  • A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
  • A rule, such as:
  • Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
  • A rule, such as:
  • A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
  • A rule, such as:
  • A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.)
  • A rule, such as:
  • A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
  • A rule, such as:
  • Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
  • A rule, such as:
  • A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
  • A rule, such as:
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
  • One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
  • 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".)
  • A tumulus of stones.
  • A hill.
  • A score; share of expense; legal charge.

Verb

Verb Forms: lawed, lawing, laws

  • To take legal action; to sue in court.
  • To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
  • To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
  • To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
  • To enforce the law.
  • To subject to legal restrictions.

Intj

  • An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks; in interjections, a minced oath for Lord.

Examples

  • "Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
  • A new law forbids driving on that road.
  • commercial hunting and fishing law
  • Dahl's law
  • Grimm's law
  • He is studying for a career in law.
  • Here comes the law — run!
  • In theory, entrapment is against the law.
  • It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
  • Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
  • Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
  • normal law; alternate law; direct law
  • property law
  • She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
  • She went to university to study law.
  • Some players LAW against opponents who cheat, though Scrabble usually settles disputes amicably.
  • The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
  • The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
  • the law of scarcity
  • the law of self-preservation
  • the law of supply and demand
  • the laws of playwriting and poetry
  • the laws of thermodynamics
  • then the law arrived on the scene
  • There is a law against importing wallabies.
  • They were quick to go to law.
  • They worked to maintain law and order.
  • This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English lawe, laȝe, from Old English lagu (“law”), borrowed from Old Norse lǫg (“law”, literally “things laid down or firmly established”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots law (“law”), Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Faroese lóg (“law”), Norwegian lov (“law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”), Finnish laki (“law”). Compare typologically distant cognate Russian уложе́ние (uložénije). Displaced native Old English ǣ and ġesetnes. More at lay.
Not related to legal, nor to French loi, Spanish ley, all of which ultimately derive from Latin lēx, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”).

Scrabble Score: 6

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

Words With Friends Score: 7

law: valid Words With Friends Word