Rule n.
 1. That which is prescribed or laid down as a guide for conduct or action; a governing direction for a specific purpose; an authoritative enactment; a regulation; a prescription; a precept; as, the rules of various societies; the rules governing a school; a rule of etiquette or propriety; the rules of cricket.
    We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives.   --Tillotson.
 2. Hence: (a) Uniform or established course of things.
    'T is against the rule of nature.   --Shak.
 (b) Systematic method or practice; as, my ule is to rise at six o'clock. (c) Ordibary course of procedure; usual way; comon state or condition of things; as, it is a rule to which there are many exeptions. (d) Conduct in general; behavior. [Obs.]
    This uncivil rule; she shall know of it.   --Shak.
 3. The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.
    Obey them that have the rule over you.   --Heb. xiii. 17.
    His stern rule the groaning land obeyed.   --Pope.
 4. Law An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
 5. Math. A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result; as, a rule for extracting the cube root.
 6. Gram. A general principle concerning the formation or use of words, or a concise statement thereof; thus, it is a rule in England, that s or es , added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but “man” forms its plural “men”, and is an exception to the rule.
 7. (a) A straight strip of wood, metal, or the like, which serves as a guide in drawing a straight line; a ruler. (b) A measuring instrument consisting of a graduated bar of wood, ivory, metal, or the like, which is usually marked so as to show inches and fractions of an inch, and jointed so that it may be folded compactly.
    A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule.   --South.
 8. Print. (a) A thin plate of metal (usually brass) of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work. (b) A composing rule. See under Conposing.
 As a rule, as a general thing; in the main; usually; as, he behaves well, as a rule.
 Board rule, Caliber rule, etc. See under Board, Caliber, etc.
 Rule joint, a knuckle joint having shoulders that abut when the connected pieces come in line with each other, and thus permit folding in one direction only.
 Rule of the road Law, any of the various regulations imposed upon travelers by land or water for their mutual convenience or safety. In the United States it is a rule of the road that land travelers passing in opposite directions shall turn out each to his own right, and generally that overtaking persons or vehicles shall turn out to the left; in England the rule for vehicles (but not for pedestrians) is the opposite of this.
 Rule of three Arith., that rule which directs, when three terms are given, how to find a fourth, which shall have the same ratio to the third term as the second has to the first; proportion. See Proportion, 5 (b).
 Rule of thumb, any rude process or operation, like that of using the thumb as a rule in measuring; hence, judgment and practical experience as distinguished from scientific knowledge.


 Board n.
 1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for building, etc.
 Note: ☞ When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is usually called a plank.
 2. A table to put food upon.
 Note: ☞ The term board answers to the modern table, but it was often movable, and placed on trestles.
 Fruit of all kinds . . .
 She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
 Heaps with unsparing hand.   --Milton.
 3. Hence: What is served on a table as food; stated meals; provision; entertainment; -- usually as furnished for pay; as, to work for one's board; the price of board.
 4. A table at which a council or court is held. Hence:  A council, convened for business, or any authorized assembly or meeting, public or private; a number of persons appointed or elected to sit in council for the management or direction of some public or private business or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc.
    Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board.   --Clarendon.
    We may judge from their letters to the board.   --Porteus.
 5. A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other material used for some special purpose, as, a molding board; a board or surface painted or arranged for a game; as, a chessboard; a backgammon board.
 6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards.
 7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards, to enter upon the theatrical profession.
 8.  The border or side of anything. Naut. (a) The side of a ship. “Now board to board the rival vessels row.” --Dryden. See On board, below. (b) The stretch which a ship makes in one tack.
 Note: ☞ Board is much used adjectively or as the last part of a compound; as, fir board, clapboard, floor board, shipboard, sideboard, ironing board, chessboard, cardboard, pasteboard, seaboard; board measure.
 The American Board, a shortened form of “The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” (the foreign missionary society of the American Congregational churches).
 Bed and board. See under Bed.
 Board and board Naut., side by side.
 Board of control, six privy councilors formerly appointed to superintend the affairs of the British East Indies. --Stormonth.
 Board rule, a figured scale for finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board. --Haldeman.
 Board of trade, in England, a committee of the privy council appointed to superintend matters relating to trade. In the United States, a body of men appointed for the advancement and protection of their business interests; a chamber of commerce.
 Board wages. (a) Food and lodging supplied as compensation for services; as, to work hard, and get only board wages. (b) Money wages which are barely sufficient to buy food and lodging. (c) A separate or special allowance of wages for the procurement of food, or food and lodging. --Dryden.
 By the board, over the board, or side. “The mast went by the board.” --Totten. Hence (Fig.), To go by the board, to suffer complete destruction or overthrow.
 To enter on the boards, to have one's name inscribed on a board or tablet in a college as a student. [Cambridge, England.] “Having been entered on the boards of Trinity college.” --Hallam.
 To make a good board Naut., to sail in a straight line when close-hauled; to lose little to leeward.
 To make short boards, to tack frequently.
 On board. (a) On shipboard; in a ship or a boat; on board of; as, I came on board early; to be on board ship. (b) In or into a railway car or train. [Colloq. U. S.]
 Returning board, a board empowered to canvass and make an official statement of the votes cast at an election. [U.S.]


 board rule
      n : a measure used in computing board feet