rule

/ruːl/ noun

Definition

INSTRUCTION [C] › an official instruction about what you must or must not do: to break (= not obey) the rules. to obey/follow the rules You can't smoke at school, it's against the rules (= not allowed).

LEADER [U] › when someone is in control of a country: military rule There have been reports of immense human suffering under his rule.

USUAL WAY [no plural] › the usual way something is: an exception to the rule Workers in the North are, as a rule, paid less than those in the South.

PRINCIPLE [C] › a principle of a system, such as a language or science: the rules of grammar

→ See also ground rules

(Definition of rule noun from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)