Meaning & use
regulation
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Meanings
nouncountable
An official rule made by a government or authority to control how something must be done.
Grammar: Often plural: safety regulations.
Patterns
- a regulation on something
- regulations governing something
A new regulation requires all cyclists to use lights at night.
The building must meet fire regulations.
Airlines follow strict safety regulations.
noununcountable
The process of controlling or supervising something by rules or by a system.
Grammar: No plural when it means the act of controlling: government regulation of banks.
Patterns
- regulation of something
- under regulation
The regulation of drug prices is a debated topic.
Body temperature regulation depends on the brain.
Tighter regulation of banks followed the crisis.
adjectivebefore a noun
Required by the rules or standard in size, color or type.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: regulation uniform.
Patterns
- regulation size
- regulation uniform
The players wore regulation jerseys.
The court is regulation size.
He used a regulation football for the match.
Word forms
| plural | regulations |
|---|
Common combinations
- comply with regulations
- All shops must comply with health regulations.
- tighten regulation
- Lawmakers voted to tighten regulation of the industry.
- safety regulations
- The factory broke safety regulations.
- government regulation
- Government regulation affects prices.
- in breach of regulations
- The lab acted in breach of regulations.
- relax regulations
- The council relaxed regulations on small businesses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rule
- Rule is the general word, while regulation suggests an official rule from an authority.
- law
- A law is passed by a legislature, whereas a regulation is often made by an agency to apply a law.
- directive
- A directive is an order from an authority, with less detail than a regulation.
- control
- Control is broader and can be informal, while regulation implies a system of official rules.
Opposites
Word family
- regulate verb
- to control by rules
- regulator noun
- a body or device that controls something
- regulatory adjective
- relating to rules and control
- deregulation noun
- removal of rules
- unregulated adjective
- not controlled by rules
Commonly confused: regulation or regularity? regulation or regimen?
regulation vs regularity
Regularity means being steady or repeated, not an official rule.
regulation vs regimen
A regimen is a planned routine of diet or treatment, not a legal rule.
Practice
Which noun fits? The company broke safety ___ and was fined.
Choose one answer.
Safety regulations are official rules that can be broken. The other nouns cannot be broken or lead to a fine.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “regulation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.