How to Use by the rules in a Sentence

by the rules

idiom
  • Could Justin, by the rules, have made a case to stay with the team?
    Dalton Ross, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2023
  • And a lot of these folks are people who had played by the rules of the game.
    Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Here’s what that looks like ⚖️ Bloomberg is playing by the rules.
    Diego Lasarte, Quartz, 21 Apr. 2023
  • Democrats play by the rules and are going to get slaughtered.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2022
  • Pushed to her breaking point, Harleen is tired of playing by the rules.
    Todd Spangler, Variety, 12 Jan. 2023
  • The tribe is currently still bound by the rules of the consent decree.
    oregonlive, 26 June 2023
  • The truth is City teams are playing by the rules while some of their opponents aren’t.
    Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024
  • The newcomers didn’t abide by the rules of the water, the locals grumbled.
    Amy Qin Callaghan O’Hare, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Elephant shed light on the power of lo-fi and not playing by the rules of a studio.
    Ron Hart, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Not playing by the rules of the rainbow isn’t just silliness for silliness’ sake.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 21 June 2024
  • Contractors that claim the credits but fail to abide by the rules face stiff fines and penalties.
    Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Some cashiers still don’t know or care to abide by the rules that require them to sell the pills without asking for ID.
    Mattie Kahn, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2022
  • So was the children’s aunt Priscilla, who played by the rules of the system and applied for custody.
    Robert Kolker, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2023
  • And there’s no guarantee that up-and-coming variants will play by the rules we’re used to.
    Byerin Prater, Fortune Well, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Some school board lawyers are confused by the rules, and and those arguing for access have few ways to fight back.
    Elle Reeve, CNN, 6 Oct. 2023
  • While the good guys are busy playing by the rules – democracies, free markets, and transparency – the bad guys are not.
    Eli Amdur, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
  • At least one competitor, too, says Call Your Mother isn’t playing by the rules.
    Ellie Silverman, Washington Post, 13 June 2024
  • Barrymore insisted that her talk show, set to return for its fourth season on Sept. 18, will abide by the rules of the strike.
    S. Dev, CBS News, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The guidelines are extensive but confusing around what must be disclosed and even who is bound by the rules.
    Christopher Null, WIRED, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Our government only works when people play by the rules.
    Paul Duggan, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Once the trade sanctions were put in place, European governments began to see the downside of not playing by the rules.
    Loren Thompson, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
  • My grandparents worked hard, played by the rules, and achieved the American dream that enabled their children to succeed.
    Mike Levin, Orange County Register, 21 May 2024
  • Yang addressed the room of attendees, asking them to abide by the rules of keeping their speeches to 45 seconds in total.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
  • She was obliged to attend a mass lecture, the equivalent of moral traffic school, and after promising to abide by the rules, her fines were canceled.
    Azadeh Moaveni, Time, 7 Dec. 2022
  • From Washington’s perspective, such moves are overdue to counter a growing rival that doesn’t play by the rules.
    Laurent Belsie, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2023
  • But Washington State head coach Jake Dickert says not everyone is playing by the rules.
    Joe Morgan, Fox News, 16 Dec. 2022
  • To realize these benefits, crypto has no choice but to begin playing by the rules of this very system.
    WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Some took photos and selfies, a practice that is usually forbidden by the rules.
    Mary Clare Jalonick, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Jan. 2023
  • But environmental groups point out that few developers will have to abide by the rules.
    Gwozniac, oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2023
  • People were selling software that enabled players to cheat at the company’s popular game Destiny 2, which ruined the game for those who chose to play by the rules.
    John Leland, New York Times, 26 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'by the rules.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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