Library / English Dictionary

GOVERN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Direct or strongly influence the behavior of

Example:

His belief in God governs his conduct

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "govern" is one way to...):

command; control (exercise authoritative control or power over)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

government (the act of governing; exercising authority)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations

Example:

This town likes to regulate

Synonyms:

govern; order; regularise; regularize; regulate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "govern" is one way to...):

decide; determine; make up one's mind (reach, make, or come to a decision about something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "govern"):

standardise; standardize (cause to conform to standard or norm)

district; zone (regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

government ((government) the system or form by which a community or other political unit is governed)

governor (a control that maintains a steady speed in a machine (as by controlling the supply of fuel))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Exercise authority over; as of nations

Example:

Who is governing the country now?

Synonyms:

govern; rule

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "govern" is one way to...):

command; control (exercise authoritative control or power over)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "govern"):

throne (sit on the throne as a ruler)

misgovern (govern badly)

dictate (rule as a dictator)

reign (have sovereign power)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

governance; governing (the act of governing; exercising authority)

government (the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit)

governor (the head of a state government)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood

Example:

most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "govern" is one way to...):

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take (require as useful, just, or proper)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

G1 Arrest consists of cellular biochemical mechanisms, responsive to diverse governing conditions (DNA damage, contact inhibition, growth factors, etc.), that control cellular progress through the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

(Negative Regulation of G1 Phase, NCI Thesaurus)

I read of men concerned in public affairs, governing or massacring their species.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity.

(Law, NCI Thesaurus)

Kinetics is the branch of mechanics concerned with the forces that cause motions of bodies and govern the rates at which molecules and compounds react.

(Kinetics, NCI Thesaurus)

The biochemical and biophysical properties governing the binding of proteins to DNA

(DNA-Protein Interaction, NCI Thesaurus)

Similar (49% identical) to FRS2, FRS3 also contains a myristylation sequence, a PTB domain, and Tyr-containing motifs that govern GRB2 and SHP2 recruitment.

(FGFR Substrate 3, NCI Thesaurus)

To spare Henrietta from agitation seemed the governing principle.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I have laid down my plan, and if I am capable of adhering to it—my feelings shall be governed and my temper improved.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

If I have wounded your sister's feelings, it was unknowingly done and though the motives which governed me may to you very naturally appear insufficient, I have not yet learnt to condemn them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Don't act yourself, if you do not like it, but don't expect to govern everybody else.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)