📒 a rule that deals with a particular crime, agreement, etc.
- to pass a law (= officially make it part of the system of laws)
- law against (doing) something Police don't have the resources to enforce the law against dumping waste.
- (informal) There ought to be a law against it!
📒 the whole system of rules that everyone in a country or society must obey
- If they entered the building they would be breaking the law.
- The reforms have recently become law.
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land on July 2, 1964.
📒 a particular branch of the law
- tax/employment law
- according to… law According to copyright law, the author is the owner of the material.
📒 the study of the law as a subject at university, etc.; the profession of being a lawyer
- a law student/professor
- Jane is studying law.
- (North American English) He's in law school.
📒 used to refer to the police and the legal system
- Jim is always getting into trouble with the law.
- She was well known for her brushes with the law.
📒 the fact that something always happens in the same way in an activity or in nature
- The usual laws of supply and demand do not seem to apply in this case.
- the laws of nature/physics
📒 a scientific rule that somebody has stated to explain a natural process
- the first law of thermodynamics
- Do you remember anything about Ohm's Law?
📒 one of the rules that controls an organization or activity
- the laws of the Church
- The first law of kung fu is to defend yourself.
- the laws of cricket
📒 a rule for good behaviour or how you should behave in a particular place or situation
- He frequently behaved as though moral laws did not exist.
- Their world is shaped by their parents' attitudes and the unspoken laws of the street.
📒 to behave in an independent way and ignore rules or what other people want you to do
- Boys of that age are a law unto themselves.
📒 to ask a court to settle a problem or disagreement
- They went to law to get back their property.
📒 a situation in which people obey the law and behave in a peaceful way
- The government struggled to maintain law and order.
- After the riots, the military was brought in to restore law and order.
- They claim to be the party of law and order.
📒 the principle that one thing will happen as often as another if you try enough times
- Keep applying and by the law of averages you'll get a job sooner or later.
📒 a situation in which people are prepared to harm other people in order to succeed
- These criminal gangs only recognize the law of the jungle.
📒 to tell somebody with force what they should or should not do
- My dad started laying down the law about what time I should come home.
📒 the exact words of a law or rule rather than its general meaning
- They insist on sticking to the letter of the law.
- We might be guilty of slightly bending the letter of the law.
- In spite of the difficulties it would cause her family, the judge stuck to the letter of the law and jailed her.
📒 in trouble with the police
📒 if you already have or control something, it is difficult for somebody else to take it away from you, even if they have the legal right to it
📒 the condition in which all members of society, including its political leaders, accept the authority of the law
- Democracy and the rule of law are yet to be firmly established in the country.
📒 to do something illegal in order to punish somebody for doing something wrong, instead of letting the police deal with them
- After a series of burglaries in the area, the police are worried that residents might take the law into their own hands.
- When police failed to arrest the suspect, local people took the law into their own hands and beat him up.
📒 used to tell somebody who is criticizing you that you are not doing anything wrong
- I'll sing if I want to—there's no law against it.