WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : (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 fr
Part of Speech : but
Definition : 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 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.

Syn. -- regulation; law; precept; maxim; guide; canon; order; method; direction; control; government; sway; empire.

he will trust only to his rule. South.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913