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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"
- 2. a rule defining correct procedure or behavior in a sport: "the laws of the game"
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the art of justice.
Mar 26, 2024 · law, the discipline and profession concerned with the customs, practices, and rules of conduct of a community that are recognized as binding by the community. Enforcement of the body of rules is through a controlling authority. The law is treated in a number of articles.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The meaning of LAW is a binding custom or practice of a community : a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority. How to use law in a sentence.
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- Overview
- above the law
- a law unto yourself
- go to law
- law and order
- outside the law
- take the law into your own hands
- the law of averages
- the law of the jungle
: not required to obey the law
•No one is above the law. [=everyone must obey the law]
◊ People who are or think they are a law unto themselves act in a way that shows they do not care what kind of behavior other people think is acceptable.
•I've warned him that he can't keep behaving this way, but he won't listen. He seems to think that he's a law unto himself. [=that he can do whatever he wants to do]
: a state or situation in which people obey the law : legal control and authority
•The police work to preserve law and order.
1
: not agreeing with the law
•actions that may have been outside the law [=illegal]
2
: in an illegal way
•Investigators were unable to prove that the business was operating outside the law. [=illegally]
: to try to punish someone for breaking a law even though you do not have the right to do that
•Police are concerned that the victim's family may try to take the law into their own hands. [=may try to punish the criminal themselves instead of allowing the legal system to do it]
: the idea or principle that something which can produce different results will produce those results in a regular or predictable way over a period of time
•I can't believe that team has lost 12 games in a row. The law of averages says that they should have won at least one game by now.
— used to describe a situation in which people do whatever they want to or whatever is necessary to survive or succeed
•an industry governed by the law of the jungle
A law is a rule made by an authority and that must be obeyed. A law is commonly made by a government, which citizens must follow or face punishment. For example, in most places there are laws about not stealing. If you are caught stealing, you could be fined or put in jail, depending on the law broken and the punishment set up for that law.
The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as various civil liberties.
