ground rule
noun
1
: a sports rule adopted to modify play on a particular field, court, or course
2
: a rule of procedure
ground rules for selecting a superintendent—
Amer. School Board Jour.
Amer. School Board Jour.
Examples of ground rule in a Sentence
before the debate begins, let's lay out some ground rules
Recent Examples on the Web
New directors will join a writers room with some serious ground rules.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 21 Oct. 2024
Others viewed the effort to nix it as a violation of the council’s ground rules.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
Forewarned in this fashion, authoritarian states will accept the new ground rules, and all powers will benefit from the elimination of one area of increasingly serious conflict.
—Alexander Vindman, Foreign Affairs, 7 Dec. 2020
After the Martin County, Florida, school district yanked 20 of her books from the shelves of high school libraries last year, Picoult set a ground rule for her current book tour, which brought her to Traverse City on Sept. 10.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 29 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ground rule 
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Brian Welk, IndieWire, 21 Oct. 2024
Others viewed the effort to nix it as a violation of the council’s ground rules.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
Forewarned in this fashion, authoritarian states will accept the new ground rules, and all powers will benefit from the elimination of one area of increasingly serious conflict.
—Alexander Vindman, Foreign Affairs, 7 Dec. 2020
After the Martin County, Florida, school district yanked 20 of her books from the shelves of high school libraries last year, Picoult set a ground rule for her current book tour, which brought her to Traverse City on Sept. 10.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 29 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ground rule
Dictionary Entries Near ground rule
Cite this Entry
“Ground rule.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ground%20rule. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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