1. (

• government ,
• governing ,
• governance ,
• government_activity ,
• administration ,

) the act of governing; exercising authority; "regulations for the governing of state prisons"; "he had considerable experience of government" ;

1. (

• regulate ,
• regularize ,
• regularise ,
• order ,
• govern ,

) bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations; "We cannot regulate the way people dress"; "This town likes to regulate" ;

2. (

• govern ,

) direct or strongly influence the behavior of; "His belief in God governs his conduct" ;

3. (

• govern ,
• rule

) exercise authority over; as of nations; "Who is governing the country now?" ;

4. (

• govern

) require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood; "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German" ;

1. (

• governing

) responsible for making and enforcing rules and laws; "governing bodies" ;