3 ADJ [ADJ n] If you are, for example, a regular customer at a shop or a regular visitor to a place, you go there often. □ She has become a regular visitor to Houghton Hall.
4 N‑COUNT The regulars at a place or in a team are the people who often go to the place or are often in the team. □ Regulars at his local pub have set up a fund to help out.
5 ADJ You use regular when referring to the thing, person, time, or place that is usually used by someone. For example, someone's regular place is the place where they usually sit. □ The man sat at his regular table near the window.
6 ADJ A regular rhythm consists of a series of sounds or movements with equal periods of time between them. □ …a very regular beat. ● regu|lar|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ Remember to breathe regularly. ● regu|lar|ity N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] Experimenters have succeeded in controlling the rate and regularity of the heartbeat.
7 ADJ [ADJ n] Regular is used to mean 'normal'. [mainly AM ] □ It looks and feels like a regular guitar.
8 ADJ [ADJ n] In some restaurants, a regular drink or quantity of food is of medium size. [mainly AM ] □ …a cheeseburger and regular fries.
9 ADJ A regular pattern or arrangement consists of a series of things with equal spaces between them. □ …sandy hillocks that look as if they've been scattered in a regular pattern on the ground.
10 ADJ If something has a regular shape, both halves are the same and it has straight edges or a smooth outline. □ …some regular geometrical shape. ● regu|lar|ity N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the chessboard regularity of their fields.
11 ADJ In grammar, a regular verb, noun, or adjective inflects in the same way as most verbs, nouns, or adjectives in the language.
regu|lar|ity /re gjʊlæ r I ti/ (regularities )
1 N‑COUNT A regularity is the fact that the same thing always happens in the same circumstances. [FORMAL ] □ Children seek out regularities and rules in acquiring language.
2 → see also regular
regu|lar|ize /re gjʊləra I z/ (regularizes , regularizing , regularized ) in BRIT, also use regularise VERB If someone regularizes a situation or system, they make it officially acceptable or put it under a system of rules. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] Cohabiting couples would regularise their unions, they said.
regu|late /re gjʊle I t/ (regulates , regulating , regulated ) VERB To regulate an activity or process means to control it, especially by means of rules. □ [V n] Serious reform is needed to improve institutions that regulate competition. ● regu|lat|ed ADJ □ …a planned, state-regulated economy.
regu|la|tion ◆◇◇ /re gjʊle I ʃ ə n/ (regulations )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Regulations are rules made by a government or other authority in order to control the way something is done or the way people behave. □ Employers are using the new regulations to force out people over 65.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Regulation is the controlling of an activity or process, usually by means of rules. □ Some in the market now want government regulation in order to reduce costs. COLLOCATIONS regulation NOUN 1
noun + regulation : banking, building, safety, workplace
adjective + regulation : financial, statutory; strict, stringent, tough
verb + regulation : enforce, impose, tighten; breach, contravene, violate; comply with, meet
regu|la|tor ◆◇◇ /re gjʊle I tə r / (regulators ) N‑COUNT A regulator is a person or organization appointed by a government to regulate an area of activity such as banking or industry. □ An independent regulator will be appointed to ensure fair competition. ● regu|la|tory /re gjʊle I təri, [AM ] -lətɔːri/ ADJ [ADJ n] □ …the U.K.'s financial regulatory system.
re|gur|gi|tate /r I gɜː r dʒ I te I t/ (regurgitates , regurgitating , regurgitated )
1 VERB If you say that someone is regurgitating ideas or facts, you mean that they are repeating them without understanding them properly. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V n] You can get sick to death of a friend regurgitating her partner's opinions.
2 VERB If a person or animal regurgitates food, they bring it back up from their stomach before it has been digested. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] Sometimes he regurgitates the food we give him because he cannot swallow.
re|hab /riː hæb/ N‑UNCOUNT Rehab is the process of helping someone to lead a normal life again after they have been ill, or when they have had a drug or alcohol problem. Rehab is short for rehabilitation . [INFORMAL ] □ He spent nearly four years in rehab.
re|ha|bili|tate /riː həb I l I te I t/ (rehabilitates , rehabilitating , rehabilitated )
1 VERB To rehabilitate someone who has been ill or in prison means to help them to live a normal life again. To rehabilitate someone who has a drug or alcohol problem means to help them stop using drugs or alcohol. □ [V n] Considerable efforts have been made to rehabilitate patients who have suffered in this way. ● re|ha|bili|ta|tion /riː həb I l I te I ʃ ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the rehabilitation of young offenders.
2 VERB If someone is rehabilitated , they begin to be considered acceptable again after a period during which they have been rejected or severely criticized. [FORMAL ] □ [be V -ed] Ten years later, Dreyfus was rehabilitated. □ [V n] His candidacy has divided the party; most scorned him but some sought to rehabilitate him.