govern

1. (transitive) To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.Examples: "The old king governed the land wisely."transitive

2. (intransitive) To exercise political authority; to run a government.Examples: "Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of."intransitive

3. (transitive) To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.Examples: "Govern yourselves like civilized people."; "a student who could not govern his impulses"; "Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else."transitive

4. (transitive) To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.Examples: "Chance governs the outcome of many card games."transitive

5. (intransitive) To have or exercise a determining influence.intransitive

6. (transitive, obsolete) To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).obsoletetransitive