law
/ˈɫɑ/, /ˈɫɔ/
nouna country's rules that all of its citizens are required to obey
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Examples
1. Some cities have even passed laws that allow Segways to travel only on sidewalks.
2. The most complicated issue from a legal standpoint is copyright law.
3. If the President vetoes a law, Congress, with a two thirds vote in both houses, can override the veto.
4. Criminal crimes happen a lot in video games, but some video game companies have taken the bold step of flouting the law themselves.
5. So Saul's daughter studied law.
to lay down
/lˈeɪ dˈaʊn/
verbto officially state that something, such as a principle or rule must be obeyed
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Examples
1. [ As Donald Trump ] "So come on down to Oceanside Mattress and use the promo code 'Shut Up And Lay Down.'"
legit
/ˈɫɛdʒɪt/, /ɫəˈdʒɪt/
adjectiveconformable or authorized by the law
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Examples
1. Sounds legit though.
2. This roof is really looking legit.
3. Yeah, man, this place just feels legit.
4. - These look legit.
5. Tastes legit.
leniency
/ˈɫinjənsi/
nounthe quality of being more compassionate, merciful, or permissive than expected, especially in terms of punishment in a court case
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Examples
1. Such leniency became the norm, and thus a characteristic of white identity itself.
2. An ancient lord, Escalus, was for leniency.
3. can you give me leniency with that?
4. You want leniency?
5. I ask leniency for writing this.
lenient
/ˈɫiniənt/, /ˈɫinjənt/
adjective(of a person) showing mercy, flexibility, or tolerance, particularly while obeying rules or punishing someone
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Examples
1. Here, this is much more lenient.
2. For decades, things were far less lenient.
3. The game has been pretty lenient on mistakes so far.
4. Baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, is not so lenient.
5. Now back in England, many people urged a lenient response to this.
leniently
/ˈɫinjəntɫi/
adverbin a manner that is less strict when punishing someone or when enforcing a law
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Examples
1. Cities which immediately surrendered were treated relatively leniently, generally needing to only send tribute, perhaps supply soldiers or tear down their fortifications.
to make an exception
/mˌeɪk ɐn ɛksˈɛpʃən/
phraseto allow a usual rule to be bypassed or ignored in a particular circumstance or for a specific purpose
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Examples
1. Because if you don't, I'm gonna make an exception and just ask you to help me with this.
2. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made an exception and allowed foreign students to participate in remote learning.
3. So usually we don't talk that much about wars, but we're going to make an exception.
4. I'm normally shy to show those moments but tonight I'm going to make an exception.
5. The Coffee Lounge technically doesn't deliver, but sometimes they make an exception, like if you tell Jonathan the cashier that you're having a really rough day and he agrees to bring your food to the lobby.
must
/ˈməst/
verbused to show that something is very important and needs to happen
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Examples
1. The team must also decide if the focus will be on domestic sales or if the baby food will be exported to foreign countries.
2. Children must help their parents.
3. I must start a new life among strangers.'
4. Light must integrate shadow.
5. Members of the royal family must take great care of their skin.
necessary
/ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/
adjectiveunavoidable; must exist, happen, or be achieved
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Examples
1. Every piece of that soil is necessary.
2. Is content moderation necessary?
3. What proof is necessary?
4. No exercises are necessary.
5. No tests are necessary.
necessity
/nəˈsɛsəti/, /nəˈsɛsɪti/
nounthe fact that something must happen or is needed
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Examples
1. "Necessity was the mother of innovation."
2. Necessity is the mother of invention.
3. Necessity is the mother of invention.
4. Necessity is the mother of invention.
5. Necessity is the mother of invention.
need
/ˈnid/
nouna condition or situation in which something is necessary
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Examples
1. Railroads needed to create an official time system to link the rail system together.
2. I need a hug.
3. So we needed refineries, which were basically giant chemical plants.
4. We do not need psychotherapy.
5. But, crucially, the company needs to answer for what happened here.
non-compliance
/ˌnɑnkəmˈpɫaɪəns/
nounrefusal to behave as expected or failure to obey or follow rules, commands, etc.
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Examples
1. And non-compliance amongst some of its members, but the outbreak of World War II is really what finished it off.
2. Non-compliance of wealthy and powerful colonists was common and many of the laws were not enforced in fear of rebellion.
3. Investigations found that the freak accident was caused by non-compliance with construction standards and some seriously shoddy foundations.
4. We talk about it in terms of engagement, or non-compliance.
5. Johns set up a GoFundMe to help with her expenses, despite her non-compliance on the show.
non-observance
/nˈɑːnɑːbzˈɜːvəns/
nounfailure to comply with a rule, obligation, etc.
Examples
obligation
/ˌɑbɫəˈɡeɪʃən/
nounthe state of being forced to do something in a way that conforms to the law or is morally acceptable
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Examples
1. A lotta students have obligations outside of school.
2. Obligations come before rights.
3. Here are your obligations.
4. It adds obligations.
5. We have obligations.
obligatory
/əˈbɫɪɡəˌtɔɹi/
adjectiverequired or necessary as a result of a rule or law
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Examples
1. Obligatory I am leaving.
2. These are obligatory.
3. Here comes the obligatory etymology.
4. It is obligatory on the president, executive, legislature and judiciary.
5. The military in Switzerland is obligatory for men.
obliged
/əˈbɫaɪdʒd/
adjectivefeeling that something must be done because it is morally proper or mandatory
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Examples
1. And so I feel obliged to warn you at the outset that I am here under false pretenses if you think that I'm capable of communicating with you about technological matters.
2. I'm just not sure whether in fact she didn't just, um, feel obliged?
3. I am much obliged.
to observe
/əbˈzɝv/
verbto comply with laws or regulations
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Examples
1. When Snow observed the situation in London, he therefore concluded that cholera was spread by tiny fecal particles in the water.
2. Two different people might observe a very different rendering of the world.
3. All twenty nine partook in the same exercises and training programs with their performances observed side by side.
4. One study observed 45 women and men with overactive bladders.
5. Observe the same object.
one's bounden duty
/wˈʌnz bˈaʊndən dˈuːɾi/
phrasesomething that is considered as one's responsibility or moral obligation
Examples
on the understanding that
/ɑːnðɪ ˌʌndɚstˈændɪŋ ðˈæt/
phraseused when an agreement can only be reached under a specific condition
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Examples
1. He took his family with him, the no-travel laws for Jews briefly waived on the understanding that the award would bring glory on Italy.
2. After nearly seven years, he’d agreed to write the fifth Hitchhiker’s book, on the understanding that it would be the last.
3. Seriously, he even brought a loyal group of school friends along with him, all of whom donned uniform for the first time on the understanding that they’d soon be overthrowing the government.
4. This, of course, is on the understanding that, as long as we are negotiating, unless party would stop the negotiations, we hold off further TARIFFS, and we assess the existing Tariffs On Steel and ALUMINUM.
5. That is, the supporters of the ERA in the House and in the Senate, it was really Republican women like Margaret Heckler and Florence Dwyer who really stood up in favor of the ERA on the understanding that it would actually help women overcome disadvantages that they faced because they were mothers.
to order
/ˈɔɹdɝ/
verbto give an instruction to someone to do something, using one's authority
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Examples
1. This is partly because of the stay-at-home order that was issued by the governor about two days ago.
2. In an airplane, the crew keeps order.
3. So, order three copies.
4. Just order two of 'em.
5. Then probably order a pizza.
ordinance
/ˈɔɹdənəns/
nounan official rule or order that is imposed by the law or someone with authority
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Examples
1. Ordinances, get outta here!
2. NEWSWOMAN 2: One woman declared the ordinance "absolutely unconstitutional."
3. Therefore you praise the ordinance?
4. Birmingham city ordinances segregated the use of drinking fountains, bathrooms, clothing store dressing rooms, by race.
5. Ordinance means munitions or ammunition.
to play by one's own rules
/plˈeɪ baɪ wˈʌnz ˈoʊn ɹˈuːlz/
phraseto do things as one sees fit, not according to laws or rules
Examples
to police
/pəˈɫis/
verbmaintain the security of by carrying out a patrol
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Examples
1. The police can also look at pictures made by security cameras.
2. A police car stops the young man in North Street.
3. Police barely enter the four blocks.
4. Police shot out the engine of the boat.
5. In 2020, police released this footage of 36 year old Odessa Carey in Ashington, Northumberland England.
policing
/pəˈɫisɪŋ/
nounthe control and regulation of law and order by the police force or other official groups
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Examples
1. Policing isn't an easy profession.
2. Policing has long been a focal point for concerns of racial injustice in the UK.
3. He got into policing.
4. Well, very simply, essentially, policing has two major strategies.
5. And just some examples, take predictive policing.
precondition
/ˌpɹikənˈdɪʃən/
nouna condition that must be met or established before other things can occur or be considered
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Examples
1. Already the preconditions were there.
2. An official authorization is not necessarily a precondition of tenability.
3. What were its preconditions?
4. Price stability is the precondition for high employment and continued growth.
5. Now, I had two preconditions.
prerequisite
/pɹiˈɹɛkwəzət/
nounsomething that is required as a precondition for something else following
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Examples
1. Race was a prerequisite.
2. Absolutely loyalty is a prerequisite for the position.
3. These were prerequisites, according to Madison, to commercial opportunity, as well as emblems of national honor, virtue, and membership in the civilized world.
4. That's the prerequisite.
5. Five years of experience in financial management is a typical prerequisite.
prerequisite
/pɹiˈɹɛkwəzət/
adjectivenecessary or indispensable as a prior condition before something else can happen
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Examples
1. Race was a prerequisite.
2. Absolutely loyalty is a prerequisite for the position.
3. These were prerequisites, according to Madison, to commercial opportunity, as well as emblems of national honor, virtue, and membership in the civilized world.
4. That's the prerequisite.
5. Five years of experience in financial management is a typical prerequisite.
to provide
/pɹəˈvaɪd/
verb(of a law or a rule) to specify that it is obligatory for something to be done
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Examples
1. For the smaller horses of the Eurasian Steppe, grass provided their necessary nutritional intake.
2. These ghost towns still provide the greatest evidence of the hostility of this land.
3. Rehab counselors also provide consultation for legal issues around the impact of injuries on work activities.
4. So would a computer's molecular orbitals provide understanding?
5. One cup provides about 123 milligrams of calcium.
provided
/pɹəˈvaɪdɪd/
conjunctionin case of; understanding that
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Examples
1. I have not seen any INFORMATION provided.
2. We have provided training On Implicit Bias.
3. Because the OBAMACARE, the Affordable Care Act, PROVIDED a requirement under regulations that employers had to Provide Insurance That covered Women 'S Contraceptive Services.
4. And the Better Constitutional Answer to the question is PROVIDED
5. Wjz that's PROVIDED video
providing
/pɹəˈvaɪdɪŋ/
conjunctionon the condition that; understanding that
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Examples
1. Providing you turn things down a little bit.
2. And this would also be a moment, since the federal government's providing money-- some influence comes with that-- to improve practices in a variety of areas in the state and local sector.
3. The Imperials were now defended by the Dreisam to the north and east, with Freiburg providing cover for their northern flank.
4. Reinforcement within concrete creates a composite material, with the concrete providing strength against compressive stress while the reinforcement provides strength against tensile stress.
5. Reinforcement within concrete creates a composite material, with the concrete providing strength against compressive stress while the reinforcement provides strength against tensile stress.
proviso
/pɹəˈvaɪzoʊ/
nouna condition that needs accepting before making an agreement
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Examples
1. I'm happy to take questions with the proviso that you go to the microphone to ask them.
2. There's, also, a separations of POWER proviso in the CONSTITUTION.
3. I should, however, add a proviso.
4. Whether Proviso is frequently violated.
5. Well, there is one proviso.