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- DictionaryLaw/lô/
noun
- 1. the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties: "they were taken to court for breaking the law" Similar rules and regulationssystem of lawsbody of lawsconstitutionlegislationcodelegal codecharterjurisprudenceOpposite anarchy
- ▪ an individual rule as part of a system of law: "an initiative to tighten up the laws on pornography" Similar regulationstatuteenactmentactbilldecreeedictrulerulingresolutionpromulgationmeasuremotiondictumcommandorderstipulationcommandmentdirectivepronouncementratificationproclamationdictatediktatfiatcovenantdemandbylawordinanceukasepronunciamento
- ▪ systems of law as a subject of study or as the basis of the legal profession: "he was still practicing law" Similar the legal professionthe barbarristers and solicitors collectively
- ▪ statutory law and the common law. Similar rules and regulationssystem of lawsbody of lawsconstitutionlegislationcodelegal codecharterjurisprudenceOpposite anarchy
- ▪ a thing regarded as having the binding force or effect of a formal system of rules: "what he said was law"
- ▪ the police: informal "he'd never been in trouble with the law in his life" Similar the policethe officers of the lawthe forces of law and orderlaw-enforcement officerspolice officerspolicemenpolicewomenthe police forcethe constabularyinformal:the copsthe fuzzthe boys in bluethe long arm of the lawthe (Old) Billthe bobbiesthe busiesthe bizziesthe coppersthe rozzersthe forceplodPC Plodthe heatinformal, derogatory:the pigsthe filthBabylon
- 2. a rule defining correct procedure or behavior in a sport: "the laws of the game" Similar ruleregulationprincipleconventiondirectioninstructionguidelinepractice
- 3. a statement of fact, deduced from observation, to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present: "the second law of thermodynamics"
- ▪ a generalization based on a fact or event perceived to be recurrent: "the first law of American corporate life is that dead wood floats"
- 4. the body of divine commandments as expressed in the Bible or other religious texts. Similar principlerulepreceptdirectivedirectioninjunctioninstructioncommandmentprescriptionstandardcriterionbeliefcreedcredoethicmaximformulatenetdoctrinecanonmitzvah
- ▪ the Pentateuch as distinct from the other parts of the Hebrew Bible (the Prophets and the Writings).
- ▪ the precepts of the Pentateuch.
Word Origin Old Englishlagu, from Old Norse lag ‘something laid down or fixed’, of Germanic origin and related to lay1.
Scrabble Points: 6
L
1A
1W
4
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