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Rule of thumb   /rul əv θəm/   Listen
noun
Rule  n.  
1.
That which is prescribed or laid down as a guide for conduct or action; a governing direction for a specific purpose; an authoritative enactment; a regulation; a prescription; a precept; as, the rules of various societies; the rules governing a school; a rule of etiquette or propriety; the rules of cricket. "We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives."
2.
Hence:
(a)
Uniform or established course of things. "'T is against the rule of nature."
(b)
Systematic method or practice; as, my ule is to rise at six o'clock.
(c)
Ordibary course of procedure; usual way; comon state or condition of things; as, it is a rule to which there are many exeptions.
(d)
Conduct in general; behavior. (Obs.) "This uncivil rule; she shall know of it."
3.
The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control. "Obey them that have the rule over you." "His stern rule the groaning land obeyed."
4.
(Law) An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
5.
(Math.) A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result; as, a rule for extracting the cube root.
6.
(Gram.) A general principle concerning the formation or use of words, or a concise statement thereof; thus, it is a rule in England, that s or es, added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but "man" forms its plural "men", and is an exception to the rule.
7.
(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 fractions of an inch, and jointed so that it may be folded compactly. "A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule."
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 the road (Law), any of the various regulations imposed upon travelers by land or water for their mutual convenience or safety. In the United States it is a rule of the road that land travelers passing in opposite directions shall turn out each to his own right, and generally that overtaking persons or vehicles shall turn out to the left; in England the rule for vehicles (but not for pedestrians) is the opposite of this.
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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Rule of thumb" Quotes from Famous Books



... a horse trainer who did a little farming, or a farmer who did a little horse training, and his management of young horses followed no known rules, and indeed knew none, but it was generally successful. He fed them by rule of thumb; he herded them in hustling, squabbling parties in pitch-dark sheds; he ploughed them at eighteen months; he beat them with a stick like dogs when they transgressed, and like dogs they loved him. He had what gardeners call "a lucky hand" with them, and they ...
— All on the Irish Shore - Irish Sketches • E. Somerville and Martin Ross
... old Bishop met them at the pier in New York. In spite of his hardened convictions about life, the little rule of thumb by which he lived, he knew something of men and women; and he suspected that process of petrifaction in his daughter's heart. So he took occasion to say ...
— Together • Robert Herrick (1868-1938)
... fast? In cases where there are serious complaints to remedy but where there are no life threatening disease conditions, a good rule of thumb is to fast on water for one complete day (24 hours) for each year that the person has lived. If you are 30 years old, it will take 30 consecutive days of fasting to restore complete health. However, thirty fasting days, done a few days here and a few ...
— How and When to Be Your Own Doctor • Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon
... it) after deployment of our military forces, Deep Strike is a term that relates to the political boundaries or proximity to military forces. The geography of the area of conflict will further define deep strike. But a rule of thumb might be attacks on a target beyond range of surface-based fires except for ballistic or cruise missiles. More important than range is the characteristics of the Deep Strike targets. Deep Strike targets could be classified as ones the ...
— Shock and Awe - Achieving Rapid Dominance • Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade
... awf'ly nice, dear, but it would be giving you trouble for nothing. I can't work that way. I go by rule of thumb. I know the present scale of weights, and the other one—the one that I'm trying to work to—will shift and vary so much that I couldn't be certain, even if I ...
— The Works of Rudyard Kipling One Volume Edition • Rudyard Kipling


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