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To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed bounds; to curb; to govern. His reson refraineth not his foul delight or talent. Chaucer. Refrain thy foot from their path. Prov. i. 15.

To give back; to repay; to restore. A governor, that had pillaged the people, was . . . sentenced to refund what he had wrongfully taken. L'Estrange.

The office of ruler; rule; authority; government.

Ruling; governing; regnant. "Some other active regent principle . . . which we call the soul." Sir M. Hale.

om the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, to whom it was sold in 1717 by Pitt the English Governor of Madras (whence also called the Pitt diamond), who bought it of an Indian merchant in 1701.

Governable; tractable. [Obs.]

One of a body of officers charged with the government of Spanish municipalities, corresponding to the English alderman.

Direct management of public finance or public works by agents of the government for government account; -- opposed to the contract system.

Mode or system of rule or management; character of government, or of the prevailing social system. I dream . . . of the new régime which is to come. H. Kingsley.

Orderly government; system of order; adminisration. Hallam.

Government; mode of ruling; rule; authority; regimen. [Obs.] Spenser. "Regiment of health." Bacon. But what are kings, when regiment is gone, But perfect shadows in a sunshine day Marlowe. The law of nature doth now require of necessity some kind of regiment. Hocker.

To rule; to govern. [Obs.] "To regle their lives." Fuller.

Ruling; governing. [Obs.]

Governed by rule or rules; steady or uniform in course, practice, or occurence; not subject to unexplained or irrational variation; returning at stated intervals; steadily pursued; orderlly; methodical; as, the regular succession of day and night; regular habits.

ust by rule, method, or established mode; to direct by rule or restriction; to subject to governing principles or laws. The laws which regulate the successions of the seasons. Macaulay. The herdsmen near the frontier adjudicated their own disputes, and regulated their own police. Bancroft.

A rule or order prescribed for management or government; prescription; a regulating principle; a governing direction; precept; law; as, the regulations of a society or a school. Regulation sword, cap, uniform, etc. (Mil.), a sword, cap, uniform, etc., of the kind or quality prescribed by the official regulations.…

ctive length of the hairspring, and thus regulates the vibrations of the balance. (b) The governor of a steam engine. (c) A valve for controlling the admission of steam to the steam chest, in a locomotive.

To regulate; to govern. [Obs.]

To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; to exercise government, as a king or emperor;; to hold supreme power; to rule. Chaucer. We will not have this man to reign over us. Luke xix. 14. Shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom Shak.

p of a bridle, fastened to the curb or snaffle on each side, by which the rider or driver governs the horse. This knight laid hold upon his reyne. Chaucer.