Basic+ Word of the Day: law

law (noun)

Law is a rule or a system of rules set up by a government that apply to its people.

• Melissa practices law in Tennessee.
• If you break the law, you will go to jail.
• The legislators voted to enact a new law.

Law, in science, is a sequence of events that occurs under the same conditions.

• The skateboarder seemed to defy the law of gravity.

Common uses

lay down the law: to give orders in a firm way. Example: “Ed’s parents laid down the law regarding doing his homework.”

take the law into your own hands: to punish someone according to your own idea of justice. Example: “When John’s daughter was attacked, he took the law into his own hands.”

In pop culture

Watch 1979 music video of The Clash singing “I Fought the Law (and the law won).”

There are other meanings of law.