law of nature
Britishnoun
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an empirical truth of great generality, conceived of as a physical (but not a logical) necessity, and consequently licensing counterfactual conditionals
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a system of morality conceived of as grounded in reason See natural law nomological
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See law 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today describes "a missing law of nature," recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world's workings.
From Science Daily • Oct. 16, 2023
This week once again showed democracy in our two countries is not a law of nature, but must be protected and defended.
From Slate • Dec. 8, 2022
"The dominance of American banks is no law of nature," he added.
From Reuters • Sep. 7, 2022
Historian Yuval Noah Harari points out, however, that the longstanding pattern by which technological disruption creates new opportunities is not some inexorable law of nature.
From Salon • Aug. 7, 2022
It was the first really universal law of nature ever propounded by a human mind, which is why Newton is regarded with such universal esteem.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
