Word.ws English Dictionary

ran the rule over

ran the rule over is the simple past of run the rule over.

Meaning of run the rule over

Verb

run the rule over (third-person singular simple present runs the rule over, present participle running the rule over, simple past ran the rule over, past participle run the rule over)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To examine carefully and thoroughly.
    • The doctor found his patient propped up on a doorstep. Having, as he expressed it afterwards, "run the rule over him," he prescribed a glass of water and an hour's rest. The man was shaken, that was all.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

Questions about ran the rule over

What is ran the rule over the simple past of?
Ran the rule over is the simple past of run the rule over.

Words near ran the rule over in the dictionary

  1. ran the gamut
  2. ran the gantlope
  3. ran the gauntlet
  4. ran the gauntlope
  5. ran the risk
  6. ran the rule over
  7. ran the show
  8. ran the table
  9. ran the whole show
  10. ran thin
  11. ran through

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ran the rule over (page history and authors); run the rule over (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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