I.
noun
1 what you can or cannot do, say, etc.
ADJECTIVE
▪ basic , cardinal , first , fundamental , golden
▪ ground ~s
▪
You and your room-mates should establish some ground ~s.
▪ general
▪ special
▪ formal , official , written
▪ informal , unspoken , unwritten
▪ old , traditional
▪
the traditional ~s of grammar
▪ current , existing
▪ proposed
▪ new
▪ rigid , strict , stringent
▪ absolute , hard and fast
▪
There are no hard and fast ~s when it comes to choosing a typeface.
▪ clear
▪ simple
▪
Follow these few simple ~s, and you won't go far wrong.
▪ arbitrary
▪ petty ( esp. BrE )
▪
He made his children's lives a misery with all his petty ~s.
▪ club , company , competition , house , school , union , etc.
▪ federal , global , international
▪
federal ~s on campaign fund-raising
▪ cultural , ethical , legal , moral , social
▪ accounting , disciplinary , immigration , privacy ( esp. AmE ), safety , tax
▪ grammar , grammatical
… OF RULES
▪ set
▪
The aim is to get each member country to adhere to a single set of ~s.
VERB + RULE
▪ create , develop , draw up , establish , formulate , impose , issue , lay down , make , set out , write
▪
The ~s were drawn up to make it fair for everyone.
▪
You don't make the ~s, you know.
▪ abide by , accept , adhere to , follow , go by , obey , observe , play by , stick to
▪
If he wanted a loan he would have to play by the bank's ~s.
▪ be in line with , conform to
▪
The packaging does not conform to EU ~s.
▪ have
▪
The sport has strict ~s for player safety.
▪ be in breach of , break , disregard , fall foul of ( BrE ), flout , ignore , violate
▪
Their action was in breach of Stock Exchange ~s.
▪ apply , enforce
▪
The referee applied the ~s to the letter (= very strictly) .
▪ adopt , use
▪ bend , relax
▪
Couldn't they just bend the ~s and let us in without a ticket?
▪ waive
▪ tighten up
▪
The ~s on claiming have been tightened up.
▪ change , rewrite
▪
The Internet has changed the ~s of business.
▪
The ~s of dating have had to be rewritten, thanks to the movies.
▪ be bound by , be governed by
▪
Employees are bound by ~s of confidentiality.
▪ know , learn , remember
▪
You should know the ~s by now.
▪ read
▪ explain
▪ interpret , understand
▪
The punishment depends on how the umpire interprets the ~s.
RULE + VERB
▪ apply , be applicable , operate
▪ come into effect , come into force
▪
New accounting ~s come into force next year.
▪ dictate sth , provide sth ( formal ), require sth , say sth , state sth , stipulate sth
▪
The competition ~s provide that a cash alternative may be given.
▪ govern sth
▪
the ~s governing the importing of livestock
▪ allow sth , allow for sth , permit sth
▪
The existing ~s allow for some flexibility.
▪ forbid sth , prevent sth , prohibit sth
▪ limit sth , restrict sth
▪
~s limiting imports
▪ change
▪
The ~s keep changing.
RULE + NOUN
▪ book
▪
The officials went strictly by the ~ book.
▪ change
▪
Several proposed ~ changes have been announced.
PREPOSITION
▪ according to the ~s
▪
According to the ~s, no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.
▪ against the ~s , contrary to the ~s
▪
Tackling a player without the ball is against the ~s.
▪ in accordance with the ~s
▪
The music was turned off at midnight, in accordance with the ~s.
▪ outside the ~s
▪
conduct which is outside the ~s
▪ under a/the ~
▪
Under this ~, only full members of the club are entitled to vote.
▪ within the ~s
▪
I believed I was acting within the ~s.
▪ ~ about , ~ concerning , ~ on , ~ regarding , ~ relating to
▪
What are the school ~s about dress?
▪ ~ for
▪
There seems to be one ~ for the rich and another for the poor.
▪
What is the ~ for forming plurals?
▪ ~ of
▪
the ~s of the game
PHRASES
▪ a breach of the ~s , a violation of the ~s
▪ a body of ~s , a code of ~s , a system of ~s
▪ respect for the ~s
▪ ~s and regulations
▪ ~ of thumb (= a practical method of doing or measuring sth)
2 what is usual
ADJECTIVE
▪ general
▪
There are few exceptions to the general ~ that bars close at midnight.
PREPOSITION
▪ as a ~
▪
As a ~, hardly anybody uses this road.
PHRASES
▪ be the ~
▪
Among her friends, casual dress and a relaxed manner are the ~.
3 government
ADJECTIVE
▪ authoritarian , harsh
▪ direct , indirect
▪ emergency
▪
The president imposed emergency ~ following the riots.
▪ majority
▪ one-party
▪ Communist , Labour , Republican , etc.
▪ colonial , imperial
▪ home
▪ civilian , military
▪ presidential
▪ constitutional , democratic
▪ mob
▪
the lawless days of mob ~
VERB + RULE
▪ impose
PREPOSITION
▪ under … ~
▪
The country remained under direct ~ by the occupying powers.
PHRASES
▪ the ~ of law
▪
a society based on the ~ of law
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ justly
PREPOSITION
▪ by
▪
the president's powers to ~ by decree
▪ over
▪
He left his son to ~ over Saragossa.
PHRASES
▪ ~ supreme
▪ ~ with an iron fist , ~ with an iron hand , ~ with a rod of iron ( esp. BrE ) (= control a person or group of people very severely)
PHRASAL VERB
rule sth out
ADVERB
▪ altogether , categorically , completely , definitely ( esp. BrE ), entirely , totally
▪
This theory cannot be ~d out altogether.
▪ virtually ( esp. BrE )
▪ effectively
▪
His age effectively ~d him out as a possible candidate.
▪ apparently
▪ automatically
▪
Infringement of this regulation would automatically ~ you out of the championship.
▪ immediately
▪ previously ( esp. BrE )
VERB + RULE OUT
▪ cannot , refuse to
▪
We cannot ~ out the possibility of a recession.
PREPOSITION
▪ as
▪
Police have now ~d her out as the killer.
Rule is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ chaos , ↑ court , ↑ dynasty , ↑ enquiry , ↑ judge , ↑ king , ↑ lord , ↑ magistrate , ↑ monarch , ↑ panel , ↑ queen , ↑ regime , ↑ tribunal , ↑ tyrant
Rule is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ country , ↑ earth , ↑ empire , ↑ kingdom , ↑ land , ↑ territory , ↑ world