law
• noun 1 a rule or system of rules recognized by a country or community as regulating the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties. 2 such rules as a subject of study or as the basis of the legal profession. 3 statute law and the common law. 4 a statement of fact to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present. 5 a rule defining correct procedure or behaviour in a sport. 6 something having binding force or effect: his word was law. 7 (the law) informal the police. — PHRASES be a law unto oneself behave in an unconventional or unpredictable manner. lay down the law issue instructions in an authoritative or dogmatic way. take the law into one’s own hands illegally or violently punish someone according to one’s own ideas of justice. — ORIGIN Old Norse, ‘something laid down or fixed’; related to LAY1.
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