a. Not comprehended within a rule or rules. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. ir- not + regular: cf. F. irrégulier. ] Not regular; not conforming to a law, method, or usage recognized as the general rule; not according to common form; not conformable to nature, to the rules of moral rectitude, or to established principles; not normal; unnatural; immethodical; unsymmetrical; erratic; no straight; not uniform; as, an irregular line; an irregular figure; an irregular verse; an irregular physician; an irregular proceeding; irregular motion; irregular conduct, etc. Cf. Regular. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most when most irregular they seem. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A flowery meadow through which a clear stream murmured in many irregular meanders. Jones.

Syn. -- Immethodical; unsystematic; abnormal; unnatural; anomalous; erratic; devious; crooked; eccentric; unsettled; uneven; variable; changeable; mutable; desultory; disorderly; wild; immoderate; intemperate; inordinate; vicious. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is not regular; especially, a soldier not in regular service. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is irregular. Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Irregularities [ Cf. F. irrégularité. ] The state or quality of being irregular; that which is irregular. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an irregular manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make irregular; to disorder. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To regulate wrongly or imperfectly; to fail to regulate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being regulated. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. regularis, fr. regula a rule, fr. regere to guide, to rule: cf. F. régulier. See Rule. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Conformed to a rule; agreeable to an established rule, law, principle, or type, or to established customary forms; normal; symmetrical; as, a regular verse in poetry; a regular piece of music; a regular verb; regular practice of law or medicine; a regular building. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Constituted, selected, or conducted in conformity with established usages, rules, or discipline; duly authorized; permanently organized; as, a regular meeting; a regular physican; a regular nomination; regular troops. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Belonging to a monastic order or community; as, regular clergy, in distinction dfrom the secular clergy. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Thorough; complete; unmitigated; as, a regular humbug. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Bot. & Zool.) Having all the parts of the same kind alike in size and shape; as, a regular flower; a regular sea urchin. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Crystallog.) Same as Isometric. [ 1913 Webster ]

Regular polygon (Geom.), a plane polygon which is both equilateral and equiangular. --
Regular polyhedron (Geom.), a polyhedron whose faces are equal regular polygons. There are five regular polyhedrons, -- the tetrahedron, the hexahedron, or cube, the octahedron, the dodecahedron, and the icosahedron. --
Regular sales (Stock Exchange), sales of stock deliverable on the day after the transaction. --
Regular troops, troops of a standing or permanent army; -- opposed to militia. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Normal; orderly; methodical. See Normal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. regularis: cf. F. régulier. See Regular, a. ] 1. (R. C. Ch.) A member of any religious order or community who has taken the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and who has been solemnly recognized by the church. Bp. Fitzpatrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) A soldier belonging to a permanent or standing army; -- chiefly used in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) A division of Echini which includes the circular, or regular, sea urchins. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. régularité. ] The condition or quality of being regular; as, regularity of outline; the regularity of motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to become regular; to regulate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a regular manner; in uniform order; methodically; in due order or time. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Regularity. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Regulated p. pr. & vb. n. Regulating. ] [ L. regulatus, p. p. of regulare, fr. regula. See Regular. ] 1. To adjust by rule, method, or established mode; to direct by rule or restriction; to subject to governing principles or laws. [ 1913 Webster ]

The laws which regulate the successions of the seasons. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The herdsmen near the frontier adjudicated their own disputes, and regulated their own police. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To put in good order; as, to regulate the disordered state of a nation or its finances. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To adjust, or maintain, with respect to a desired rate, degree, or condition; as, to regulate the temperature of a room, the pressure of steam, the speed of a machine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

To regulate a watch or
To regulate a clock, to adjust its rate of running so that it will keep approximately standard time. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To adjust; dispose; methodize; arrange; direct; order; rule; govern. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of regulating, or the state of being regulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

The temper and regulation of our own minds. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Regulation sword,
cap,
uniform, etc. (Mil.), a sword, cap, uniform, etc., of the kind or quality prescribed by the official regulations. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Law; rule; method; principle; order; precept. See Law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Tending to regulate; regulating. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) Necessarily assumed by the mind as fundamental to all other knowledge; furnishing fundamental principles; as, the regulative principles, or principles a priori; the regulative faculty. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ These terms are borrowed from Kant, and suggest the thought, allowed by Kant, that possibly these principles are only true for the human mind, the operations and belief of which they regulate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, regulates. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) A contrivance for regulating and controlling motion, as: (a) The lever or index in a watch, which controls the effective 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A clock, or other timepiece, used as a standard of correct time. See Astronomical clock (a), under Clock. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A member of a volunteer committee which, in default of the lawful authority, undertakes to preserve order and prevent crimes; also, sometimes, one of a band organized for the comission of violent crimes. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A few stood neutral, or declared in favor of the Regulators. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Regulated by one's self or by itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending or serving to regulate one's self or itself. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physics) A device for the automatic regulation of temperature; a thermostat. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]