law

An official rule that people in a country or organization must obey.

• You must obey the law.
• The government passed a new law.
• These laws protect workers from unfair treatment.

How to use it: law against something (There is a law against selling alcohol to children.); law on something (The law on smoking changed last year.)

Similar words: rule, legislation, statute

Common phrases: break the law, obey the law, a new law, criminal law

The study of official rules and how courts use them.

• She wants to study law.
• He has a degree in law.
• Our law professor worked as a judge.

Similar words: legal studies, jurisprudence

Common phrases: study law, law school, a law degree

A principle that describes what always happens in a particular situation.

• They saw this as a universal law.
• The law of supply and demand explains the price rise.
• He claimed to have discovered a basic law of human behavior.

How to use it: law of something (The law of supply and demand affects prices.)

Similar words: principle, rule

Common phrases: a universal law, a law of nature, an economic law

A scientific statement describing how things in nature behave under particular conditions.

• We studied the laws of motion.
• This experiment demonstrates a basic physical law.
• The engineer used a law of thermodynamics to calculate the energy loss.

How to use it: law of something (The law of gravity explains why objects fall.)

Similar words: scientific principle

Common phrases: law of gravity, a physical law, a scientific law

The police, especially when they are trying to catch someone who has committed a crime.

• The law finally caught him.
• She hid before the law arrived.
• The robbers thought they could escape the law.

Similar words: police

Common phrases: the law arrives, escape the law, the law catches

A rule about how people should behave, whether or not a government has made it official.

• Kindness was the first law of their community.
• Respecting guests is an unwritten law here.
• Their religious laws forbid certain foods.

Similar words: rule, principle, code

Common phrases: moral law, an unwritten law, religious law