regulate
VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (4)regulates, regulated, regulating
- fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of“regulate the temperature”“modulate the pitch”Synonyms: modulateMore general adjust, set
- bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations“We cannot regulate the way people dress”“This town likes to regulate”Synonyms: regularizeregulariseordergovernMore general decide, make up one's mindMore specific standardize, zone
- shape or influence; give direction to“experience often determines ability”“mold public opinion”Synonyms: determineshapemoldinfluencemouldMore general cause, doMore specific dispose, reshape, time, predetermine, miscreate, indispose, pace, carry weight, decide, index
- restrain the emission of (sound, fluid, etc.)Synonyms: baffleMore general restrain, keep
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. regulatus, p. p. of regulare, fr. regula. See Regular.
1. To adjust by rule, method, or established mode; to direct by rule or restriction; to subject to governing principles or laws.
The laws which regulate the successions of the seasons.— Thomas Babington Macaulay
The herdsmen near the frontier adjudicated their own disputes, and regulated their own police.— George Bancroft
2. To put in good order; as, to regulate the disordered state of a nation or its finances.
3. To adjust, or maintain, with respect to a desired rate, degree, or condition; as, to regulate the temperature of a room, the pressure of steam, the speed of a machine, etc.
To regulate a watch or To regulate a clock, to adjust its rate of running so that it will keep approximately standard time.
Synonyms: To adjust; dispose; methodize; arrange; direct; order; rule; govern.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54