 govern |
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| 1. | [ verb ] (law) bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations | |
| Synonyms: | regulate order regularise regularize | |
| Examples: | "We cannot regulate the way people dress" "This town likes to regulate" |
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| Related terms: | deregulate decide standardize zone government rule regulator standardization | |
| 2. | [ verb ] direct or strongly influence the behavior of | |
| Examples: | "His belief in God governs his conduct" |
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| Related terms: | control government | |
| 3. | [ verb ] (politics) exercise authority over; as of nations | |
| Synonyms: | rule | |
| Examples: | "Who is governing the country now?" |
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| Related terms: | control reign dictate throne misgovern government government governor dominion | |
| 4. | [ verb ] (grammar) require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood | |
| Examples: | "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German" |
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| Related terms: | necessitate | |
| Similar spelling: |
governor governed governing governess |
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