plural laws
Definition of law
(Entry 1 of 6)
1a(1)
: a binding custom or practice of a community : a rule of conduct or action prescribed (see prescribe sense 1a) or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority
(2)
: the whole body of such customs, practices, or rules
The courts exist to uphold, interpret, and apply the law.
(3)
: common law
b(1)
: the control brought about by the existence or enforcement of such law
The Indian government is believed to have detained thousands of other people last year … . The government said the move, decried by critics as draconian, was necessary to maintain law and public order in the region. — BBC.com
— see also law and order
(2)
: the action of laws considered as a means of redressing wrongs
also
: litigation
developed the habit of going to law over the slightest provocation — H. A. Overstreet
(3)
: the agency of or an agent of established law
When he saw that the fighting was escalating, he called in the law.
c
: a rule or order that it is advisable or obligatory to observe
a law of self-preservation
d
: something compatible with or enforceable by established law
The decrees were judged not to be law and were therefore rescinded.
2a
often capitalized
: the revelation of the will of God set forth in the Old Testament
3
: a rule of construction or procedure
the laws of poetry
4
: the whole body of laws relating to one subject
criminal law probate law
5a
: the legal profession
studied for a career in law
b
: law as a department of knowledge : jurisprudence
c
: legal knowledge
a man with much history but little law
6a
: a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions
a law of thermodynamics Boyle's law
b
: a general relation proved or assumed to hold between mathematical or logical expressions
at law
: under or within the provisions of the law
enforceable at law
law
verb
lawed; lawing; laws
Definition of law (Entry 2 of 6)
chiefly dialectal
: to sue or prosecute at law
Law
biographical name (1)Definition of Law (Entry 3 of 6)
Law
biographical name (2)Definition of Law (Entry 4 of 6)
Law
biographical name (3)Definition of Law (Entry 5 of 6)
John 1671–1729 Scottish financier and speculator
Law
biographical name (4)Definition of Law (Entry 6 of 6)
William 1686–1761 English writer
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for law
The first known use of law was before the 12th century
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