regulate

verb

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reg·u·late | \ ˈre-gyə-ˌlāt

also ˈrā- \

regulated; regulating

Definition of regulate

transitive verb

1a : to govern or direct according to rule

b(1) : to bring under the control of law or constituted authority

(2) : to make regulations for or concerning regulate the industries of a country

2 : to bring order, method, or uniformity to regulate one's habits

3 : to fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of regulate the pressure of a tire

Other Words from regulate Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About regulate

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Other Words from regulate

regulative \ ˈre-gyə-ˌlā-tiv

also ˈrā- \ adjective

regulatory \ ˈre-gyə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē

also ˈrā- \ adjective

Examples of regulate in a Sentence

The dam regulates the flow of water into the river. We need better laws to regulate the content of the Internet. Laws have been made to regulate working conditions. The government regulates how much lead may be found in our water supply. The department regulates foreign trade.

Recent Examples on the Web EasyPay gets around the Massachusetts usury law by being affiliated with a bank headquartered outside the state, which cuts off the state’s authority to regulate it. — BostonGlobe.com, 25 June 2021 The legislative push to establish a system in California for stripping badges from bad cops has become a battle over how much authority law enforcement should be given to regulate itself. — Alexei Koseff, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 June 2021 In function, ICOs were securities offerings, and in 2017 the SEC rightly stepped in to regulate them in accordance with longstanding and well-understood federal securities laws. — Jay Clayton And Brent Mcintosh, WSJ, 6 June 2021 The fluid in your inner ear is unable to regulate itself, so your vestibular system is also affected. — Darrah Brustein, Forbes, 21 May 2021 States as culturally diverse as California and Texas treat homeschools as small private schools and regulate them accordingly. — James R. Mason, National Review, 13 May 2021 Facebook can’t be trusted to regulate itself and Congress and the White House should step in. — Matt O'brien, Anchorage Daily News, 5 May 2021 Profits from these hospitals, which go into paying the high salaries of doctors and top executives, took precedence over attempts to regulate them or stop malpractice, such as overcharging patients or unnecessary surgeries. — Kalpana Jain, STAT, 4 May 2021 Daughton’s team was responsible for developing ways to find these chemicals in soils, such as those at Superfund sites, and water, so that the EPA could effectively regulate them. — Miranda Weiss, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'regulate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.