measuring stick consisting of a strip of wood or metal or plastic with a straight edge that is used for drawing straight lines and measuring lengths
a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior; "it was his rule to take a walk before breakfast"; "short haircuts were the regulation"
(mathematics) a standard procedure for solving a class of mathematical problems; "he determined the upper bound with Descartes' rule of signs"; "he gave us a general formula for attacking polynomials"
any one of a systematic body of regulations defining the way of life of members of a religious order; "the rule of St. Dominic"
prescribed guide for conduct or action
directions that define the way a game or sport is to be conducted; "he knew the rules of chess"
(linguistics) a rule describing (or prescribing) a linguistic practice
the duration of a monarch's or government's power; "during the rule of Elizabeth"
keep in check; "rule one's temper"
decide with authority; "The King decreed that all firstborn males should be killed"
decide on and make a declaration about; "find someone guilty"
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs"
unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome; "rockets were much too fractious to be tested near thickly populated areas"; "fractious components of a communication system"
stubbornly resistant to authority or control; "a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness"; "a refractory child"
anything indispensable; "food and shelter are necessities of life"; "the essentials of the good life"; "allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions"; "a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained"
wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
a periodical that is published by a special interest group; "the organ of the communist party"
a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function; "The Census Bureau is an organ of the Commerce Department"