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.
Syn. -- Normal; orderly; methodical. See Normal.
Reg"u*lar (rg"*lr), 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.
2. (Mil.) A soldier belonging to a permanent or standing army; --
chiefly used in the plural.
||Reg`u*la"ri*a (rg`*l"r*), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) A division of Echini
||which includes the circular, or regular, sea urchins.
Reg`u*lar"i*ty (-l?r"?*t?), n. [Cf. F. régularité.] The condition or
quality of being regular; as, regularity of outline; the regularity of
motion.
Reg"u*lar*ize (rg"*lr*z), v. t. To cause to become regular; to
regulate. [R.]
Reg"u*lar*ly, adv. In a regular manner; in uniform order; methodically;
in due order or time.
Reg"u*lar*ness, n. Regularity. Boyle.
Reg"u*late (-lt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Regulated (- l`td); 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.
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.
2. To put in good order; as, to regulate the disordered state of a
nation or its finances.
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.
To regulate a watch or clock, to adjust its rate of running so that it
will keep approximately standard time.
Syn. -- To adjust; dispose; methodize; arrange; direct; order; rule;
govern.
Reg`u*la"tion (-l?"sh?n), n. 1. The act of regulating, or the state of
being regulated.
The temper and regulation of our own minds.
Macaulay.
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.
Regulation sword, cap, uniform, etc. (Mil.), a sword, cap, uniform,
etc., of the kind or quality prescribed by the official regulations.
Syn. -- Law; rule; method; principle; order; precept. See Law.
Reg"u*la*tive (r?g"?*l?*t?v), a. 1. Tending to regulate; regulating.
Whewell.
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.
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.
Reg"u*la`tor (-l?`t?r), n. 1. One who, or that which, regulates.
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.
3. A clock, or other timepiece, used as a standard of correct time. See
Astronomical clock (a), under Clock.
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.]
A few stood neutral, or declared in favor of the Regulators.
Bancroft.
Reg"u*line (r?g"?*l?n), a. [Cf. F. régulin. See Regulus.] (Chem. &
Metal.) Of or pertaining to regulus.
Reg"u*lize (-l?z), v. t. (Old Chem.) To reduce to regulus; to separate,
as a metal from extraneous matter; as, to regulize antimony. [Archaic]
Reg"u*lus (-l?s), n.; pl. E. Reguluses (-&?;z), L. Reguli (- l&?;).
[L., a petty king, prince, dim. of rex, regis, a king: cf. F. régule.
See Regal.] 1. A petty king; a ruler of little power or consequence.
2. (Chem. & Metal.) The button, globule, or mass of metal, in a more or
less impure state, which forms in the bottom of the crucible in
smelting and reduction of ores.
The name was introduced by the alchemists, and applied by them in the
first instance to antimony. It signifies little king; and from the
facility with which antimony alloyed with gold, these empirical
philosophers had great hopes that this metal, antimony, would lead them
to the discovery of the philosopher's stone. Ure.
3. (Astron.) A star of the first magnitude in the constellation Leo; --
called also the Lion's Heart.
Re*gur"gi*tate (r?*g?r"j?*t?t), v. t. [LL. regurgitare, regurgitatum;
L. pref. re- re- + gurges, -itis, a gulf. Cf. Regorge.] To throw or
pour back, as from a deep or hollow place; to pour or throw back in
great quantity.
Re*gur"gi*tate, v. i. To be thrown or poured back; to rush or surge
back.
The food may regurgitatem the stomach into the esophagus and mouth.
Quain.
Re*gur`gi*ta"tion (-t?"sh?n), n. [Cf. F. régurgitation.] 1. The act of
flowing or pouring back by the orifice of entrance; specifically
(Med.), the reversal of the natural direction in which the current or
contents flow through a tube or cavity of the body. Quain.