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1. Dictionary

   law

   /lɔː/

   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: "shooting the birds is against the law" Similar rules and regulationssystem of lawsbody of lawsconstitutionlegislationcodelegal codecharterjurisprudenceOpposite anarchy
   • ▪ an individual rule as part of a system of law: "a new law was passed to make divorce easier and simpler" Similar regulationstatuteenactmentactbilldecreeedictrulerulingresolutionpromulgationmeasuremotiondictumcommandorderstipulationcommandmentdirectivepronouncementratificationproclamationdictatediktatfiatcovenantdemandby-lawordinanceukasepronunciamento
   • ▪ systems of law as a subject of study or as the basis of the legal profession: "he was still practising law" Similar the legal professionthe barbarristers and solicitors collectively
   • ▪ statute law and the common law. Similar rules and regulationssystem of lawsbody of lawsconstitutionlegislationcodelegal codecharterjurisprudenceOpposite anarchy
   • ▪ something regarded as having binding force or effect: "he had supreme control—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 behaviour 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

     1

   • A

     1

   • W

     4

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