law

Less common meanings

9. 9
   rule of conductnouncountable or uncountable

   A rule that must or should be followed in some activity, art or way of behaving: the laws of good manners; the laws of harmony.

   By the laws of common courtesy, you thank your host before leaving.

   There is an unwritten law that newcomers buy the first round.

   UsageOften the laws of + activity (the laws of courtesy), or an unwritten law.

   Similarrule, principle, convention

10. 10
    nouncountable or uncountablewith the

    The body of judge-made rules developed through court decisions, as distinguished from the separate system of equity.

    Remedies at law are typically monetary, whereas equity allows injunctions.

    Historically, courts of law and courts of equity were separate institutions.

    Oppositeequity

11. 11
    going to courtnouncountable or uncountable

    Legal action or litigation undertaken to maintain order, redress wrongs, or settle disputes.

    Rather than negotiate, the company resorted to law.

    He threatened to go to law over the broken contract.

    UsageUse go to law, without an article, to mean starting legal proceedings.

    Similarlitigation

12. 12
    verbcolloquialtransitive

    To enforce the law and bring offenders to account.

    Marshals were hired to law the cattle towns during the boom years.

    Old Sam lawed that mining camp for twenty years and never once fired his gun in anger.

    Similarpolice

13. 13
    verbobsolete

    To earn one's living as a lawyer; to practice the legal profession.

    That was in 1877 you were lawing with Herdick?

    1889, New York (State). Court of Appeals, New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs

    J. H. Turner is married and lawing in Milwaukee.

    1897, The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta - Volume 21

    Note

    An obsolete verb met mostly in the progressive. Examples include "lawing with Herdick" in an 1889 New York court record and "married and lawing in Milwaukee" in The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta (1897). Modern English says practice law, with the profession as its object. Do not confuse this lawing with the dialect verb for suing. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The wording lawing with Herdick occurs in a New York court record. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta contains the quoted Milwaukee wording. en.wiktionary.org
    • There is a distinct dialectal sense meaning to sue or litigate. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    regulateverbraretransitive

    To place under legal restrictions; to bring within the limits set by law.

    She knows what's tethered underwater. Not Children's bodies, but their toys, their lost, Lawed-against pleasures

    1994, Lisa Lewis, The Unbeliever

    Similarregulate

    Oppositederegulate

    Note

    A complaint word, at its most effective when repeated. The Chronicle (1895) said insurance "has been lawed and lawed until it is nearly outlawed", and Weight and Measure (1920) grumbled that "we are lawed into existence and lawed through life and lawed out of it". The repetition conveys regulation piling up. It also combines with particles and prepositions: lawed over, lawed-against pleasures.

15. 15
    sueverbdialectaltransitive or intransitive

    To prosecute or sue someone; to take legal action against them.

    She warned the landlord she would law him if the repairs weren't done.

    The two families lawed each other for years over the boundary.

    Similarsue, prosecute

    Note

    A dialect verb for going to court, used with or without an object. You can law a neighbor, or simply be "so given to lawing", as Mrs Pullet puts it in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860). When there is no object, with is the usual partner: no man ever made anything lawing with his wife. The tone is often wry, since lawing is something people are said to do too much. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • George Eliot wrote The Mill on the Floss, first published in 1860. writersinspire.org
    • Mrs Pullet says this in George Eliot's novel. gutenberg.org
    • The wording “no man ever made anything lawing with his wife” is attested. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    sound changenouncountable or uncountable

    A sound law; a regular, systematic change in the pronunciation of a language over time.

    Grimm's law accounts for the regular consonant shifts in Germanic languages.

    Grimm's law explains why many Latin words starting with p, like pater, match English words starting with f, like father.

    Similarrule

    Note

    Historical linguists name their sound laws after the scholar who stated them, in the possessive: Grimm's law, Dahl's law, Verner's law. Each describes a sound change that ran regularly through a language's vocabulary during a given period. That claim of regularity is what makes it a law rather than a tendency. Within the field, law on its own is understood as short for sound law. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Grimm's law bears the possessive name of Jacob Grimm, who stated it. en.wikipedia.org
    • Dahl's law is named after Edmund Dahl, who reported the sound pattern. en.wikipedia.org
    • Verner's law is named after Karl Verner, who formulated it. en.wikipedia.org
    • Sound laws describe regular sound changes operating within a limited historical period. en.wikipedia.org
    • The designation sound law expresses the claimed regularity of the change. en.wikipedia.org
17. 17
    cricket rulenouncountable or uncountable

    Any rule in the official code of cricket, which was drawn up by the MCC, formerly the sport's governing body.

    Under a newer law on bat size, cricket bats with extremely thick edges are no longer allowed.

    Every cricket umpire must know the laws thoroughly, from no-balls to run-outs.

    Similarrule

    Note

    Cricket calls its regulations laws, not rules. They are numbered and kept by the MCC, the Marylebone Cricket Club, which remains their custodian even though it no longer governs the sport at the international level. A player or umpire refers to a particular law by its number or subject, and the code as a whole is simply the laws. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • MCC stands for Marylebone Cricket Club, which remains custodian of cricket's Laws. lawsofcricket.lords.org
    • MCC is responsible for drafting the Laws. lords.org
    • MCC formerly governed cricket; international governance now belongs to the ICC. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Laws are numbered and have subject headings. en.wikipedia.org
18. 18
    flight controlnouncountable or uncountable

    A mode of operation governing how the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft respond to pilot input.

    When the fault cleared, the jet returned to its normal control law.

    Each law applies a different set of envelope protections.

    Similarmode

    Note

    Pilots and engineers of fly-by-wire aircraft speak of control laws: normal law, alternate law, direct law. Each law determines how the flight-control computers interpret the pilot's commands and which automatic envelope protections remain active. A change of law therefore changes how the aircraft answers the controls. The mode's name comes first and the word law follows, with or without an article. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Fly-by-wire flight-control laws include normal law, alternate law and direct law. bea.aero
    • Control laws govern computer processing of pilot commands and the available envelope protections, thereby determining aircraft response. airbus.com
    • The descriptor precedes law, but these expressions occur both with and without an article; Airbus explicitly uses “the normal law”. safetyfirst.airbus.com
19. 19
    order (fantasy)nouncountable or uncountable

    In certain fantasy settings, one of two ruling metaphysical forces, also called order, set in opposition to chaos.

    In the game's lore, the champions of law wage an endless war against the lords of chaos.

    Champions of law and champions of chaos clashed at the edge of the world.

    Similarorder

    Oppositechaos

    Note

    Fantasy uses the word for one side of a cosmic pairing, law against chaos. Here the idea of order under rules is raised to a metaphysical force, and law and order are used interchangeably. It usually stands bare, without an article, and characters serve or champion it much as they might serve a god. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Fantasy settings present Law and Chaos as opposing metaphysical forces. en.wikipedia.org
    • This cosmic opposition associates law with order. en.wikipedia.org
    • Fantasy characters champion Law. en.wikipedia.org
20. 20
    head startnounrarecountable or uncountable

    A head start in distance or time given to a weaker competitor in a race, to make the contest more even.

    Similarstart (entry), allowance, handicap

    Note

    A racing term, now uncommon, for the start conceded to a slower competitor, human or animal. Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days (1857) shows the setting it belongs to. There, two runners chosen as hares buckle on bags of scent and set off across the fields at a long, slinging trot ahead of the rest. The word suits any contest where the weaker side is let go first. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Thomas Hughes wrote Tom Brown at Rugby. gutenberg.org
    • The novel was first published in 1857, under the title Tom Brown's School Days. en.wikisource.org
    • Two runners chosen as hares buckle on scent bags and start across the fields before the other runners. gutenberg.org
21. 21
    governverbnonstandardtransitive

    To rule over a people or place by law; to govern.

    So that, when GOD said, “Let there be light:” Behold the first created light burst out unto its glory (here GOD lawed the power of heat, fire, light, melting, cooling, and freezing)

    2007, Henry Grenryk Ledesma, The Little Book: The Sound of the Seventh Trumpet

    Beyond the ocher and yellow-washed buildings, French colonial with a suggestion of Beau Geste from the castellated balconies, it is an arm-grabbing, loosely lawed bazaar of a place.

    2011, Brian Freemantle, The Iron Cage

    Similargovern, rule

    Note

    A nonstandard verb that appears mostly as the participle lawed, often beside a near-synonym. Nicholas Downton, writing of Surat in 1615, called its people "diversely lawed and customed". Later writers stretch it to legislatures and even to the heavens, as in "the lawed line" of the stars' movement. For ordinary prose, govern or rule is the safe choice. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Nicholas Downton described the people of Surat in February 1615 as diversely lawed and customed. en.wiktionary.org
    • A later writer used lawed of a legislature's action. en.wiktionary.org
    • A later passage describes the stars' movement using the phrase the lawed line. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    oh myinterjectiondated

    An exclamation of mild surprise; a softened stand-in for the word "Lord".

    Law, but it's cold enough to freeze the pump tonight!

    ‘Do tell me once for all, whether you intend to marry Mr Watts or not?’ ‘Law Mama, how can I tell you what I don't know myself?’

    1791, Jane Austen, ‘The Three Sisters’

    SimilarLord, lordy, gosh, golly

    Note

    A softened oath for Lord, and a fourth word that only looks like the legal one; compare la and Lawd. Jane Austen gives it to a daughter answering her mother: "Law Mama, how can I tell you what I don't know myself?" It also settles into formulas like law bless my soul. Because it is dated, use it for period voice or comic dialogue. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The interjection is a softened oath for Lord, distinct from legal law. en.wiktionary.org
    • Wiktionary treats this interjection under its fourth etymology and compares la and Lawd. en.wiktionary.org
    • Austen gives the quoted words to a daughter answering her mother: Mary Stanhope in The Three Sisters. The wording is confirmed, with minor editorial punctuation differences. pemberley.com
    • The expression law bless my soul is attested. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    court oathnounhistoricalcountable or uncountable

    An oath sworn before a court, especially one disclaiming a debt, used chiefly in phrases like "wager of law" and "wage one's law".

    He offered to wage his law and bring eleven neighbors to swear with him.

    As to the depriving the defendant of waging his law, it was thought, the practice merited discouragement, as a temptation to perjury.

    1793, Richard Wooddeson, A Systematical View of the Laws of England

    Note

    A historical procedure preserved in a handful of phrases: wager of law, wage one's law, perform one's law, lose one's law. A defendant, often supported by oath-helpers, swore before the court to deny a debt. Richard Wooddeson noted in 1793 that the practice was thought to deserve discouragement as a temptation to perjury. The Wakefield manor court rolls show that withdrawing from a wager of law counted as admitting the point and brought a fine. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • This historical legal sense occurs in wager of law, wage one's law, perform one's law, and lose one's law. en.wiktionary.org
    • A defendant could deny a debt by an oath in court, supported by compurgators or oath-helpers. en.wikipedia.org
    • Withdrawing from a wager of law at Wakefield counted as admitting the disputed point and incurred a fine. archive.org
24. 24
    hillnounarchaicNorthern EnglandScotland

    A hill, especially a rounded or conical one rising on its own above the surrounding land.

    Sheep grazed the slopes of the law all through the summer months.

    [Y]ou might climb the Law, where the whale's jawbone stood landmark in the buzzing wind, and behold the face of many counties, and the smoke and spires of many towns, and the sails of distant ships.

    1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Lantern-bearers”

    Note

    The same word as the stone tumulus survives in Scotland and northern England as a name for a hill, typically a rounded one standing alone. It lives on in place names such as North Berwick Law and Largo Law. Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Lantern-bearers" (1888) capitalizes it as a place: "you might climb the Law", where a whale's jawbone stood as a landmark. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The hill word and the stone-tumulus word share an origin; the hill sense occurs in Scotland and northern England. en.wiktionary.org
    • North Berwick Law is a hill whose name contains law. en.wikipedia.org
    • Largo Law is a hill whose name contains law. fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk
    • The essay first appeared in Scribner’s Magazine in February 1888; it was collected in Across the Plains in 1892. robert-louis-stevenson.org
    • Stevenson's essay contains the exact phrase quoted, capitalizes Law, and describes a whale's jawbone standing there as a landmark. gutenberg.org
25. 25
    nounobsolete

    A mound or heap of stones raised as a tumulus, often over a grave.

    Note

    A different word altogether from the law of courts and rules. It comes from Old English hlāw, "burial mound", and was also spelled low. Long obsolete in this sense, it named the heap of stones raised over the dead. When the word turns up in an old account of a grave, it means the mound itself, not any rule. Its surviving relative is the northern word for a hill. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The tumulus word is distinct from legal law, derives from Old English hlāw meaning burial mound, and has the alternative spelling low. en.wiktionary.org
    • Law had an obsolete sense meaning a stone tumulus. en.wiktionary.org
    • In a burial context, this word denotes the mound over the dead. en.wiktionary.org
    • The hill sense belongs to the same word family as the burial-mound sense. en.wiktionary.org
26. 26
    share of costnounobsolete

    A reckoning or score; a person's share of an expense, or a charge owed.

    Note

    A third, related word, from Old Norse lag, "that which is laid", which could also mean a price. It is kin to Scots lauch, a tavern reckoning or one's share of the cost. That fits the sense well: the score run up at an inn, and each drinker's part of it. Outside dialect it is obsolete. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The reckoning word and law in its main sense share Old Norse lag: lǫg, the source of the main sense, was its plural. en.wiktionary.org
    • The reckoning word derives from Old Norse lag, meaning that which is laid. en.wiktionary.org
    • Old Norse lag could mean a price. en.wiktionary.org
    • The word is cognate with Scots lauch, meaning a tavern reckoning or a person's share of the cost; this supports the inn-bill illustration. en.wiktionary.org