ruling

Pluralrulings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A formal decision or order on a point of law issued by a judge or other authority.

   The appeals court issued a ruling that overturned the earlier verdict.

   Lawyers on both sides studied the ruling for grounds to appeal.

   Similardecision, judgment, verdict, decree, order

   Note

   Judges are not the only ones who issue these. In Modern Railways in 1964, a Minister's ruling is enough to leave a run of railway workshop orders canceled. The word is simply rule plus -ing, the act of ruling turned into a thing, and it keeps that settled authority: a ruling closes a question until a higher body overturns it. Rulings are issued or handed down, and they are made on a point.

2. 2
   adjective

   Holding power and authority over a group, place, or situation; dominant or controlling.

   The ruling elite resisted every attempt at reform.

   Her ruling passion was a love of justice that guided every choice.

   Similarreigning, regnant

   Note

   Built simply from rule plus -ing, this adjective stands before its noun and names whatever holds sway. With people and groups the power is literal: the ruling monarch, the ruling elite. With feelings it turns figurative. A ruling passion is the one desire that governs all the others. Reigning and regnant are close neighbors, but ruling stretches comfortably from thrones to inner lives.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle of rule.

   The military has been ruling the nation since the coup.

   Ruling a vast empire required constant attention to distant provinces.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb rule passes through this form, so context decides which is meant: the military ruling a nation, a judge ruling on a motion, a clerk ruling paper with lines. The same spelling also works as a gerund (ruling an empire is hard work). When it takes an object it is the verb. Directly before a noun, as in the ruling elite, it is the adjective of power.

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