law of physics
28
3.8
- noun
- /lɔː ʌv ˈfɪzɪks/
- Specialized
:
ley de la física
- According to the law of physics, energy cannot be created or destroyed.
- fundamental laws of physics
- known laws of physics
This is all within the laws of physics and I'll stick my neck out.
- This is all within the laws of physics and I'll stick my neck out.
- The laws of physics are very simple.
- If anyone ever says that they saw something break the laws of physics, no, they did not.
- There is no law of physics that says we cannot reverse age ourselves.
- I'd like to know how, obeying the laws of physics you ever managed to put these genes on.
- I want to know where does this distinction come from in the laws of physics?
- So it says, hey, the Bible got that right and also says that the laws of physics have never changed.
- So once again, we don't know yet what the what the final laws of physics are going to turn out to be.
Examples
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But some things are doable within the laws of physics, and some things simply are not.
Blog text (19) -
Students need to see how the laws of physics help us understand how nature works on all scales.
Academic text (1996) -
The laws of physics are very simple.
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If anyone ever says that they saw something break the laws of physics, no, they did not.
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There are no known laws of physics operating here, okay?
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So much for the laws of physics.
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It's a law of physics.
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As long as we obey the laws of physics, then we'll be fine, okay?
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And while the laws of physics describing these forces are simple, the world is complex.
Academic text (2004) -
An engineer can translate the laws of physics into a physical manifestation, for example, a rail car.
Academic text (2003)
Synonyms
633
3.8
A basic idea or law that explains how something works
206
5.0
A general rule from repeated observations that explains how nature works
21
3.9
A basic rule scientists find about how the world works
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a statement describing a fundamental principle in physics' is directly derivable from combining 'law' (a general rule) with 'physics' (the study of matter and energy), with 'of' marking the relationship. This is a straightforward, compositional noun phrase following a common cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
The expression law of physics uses law the way we use it for rules among people, but it is applied to physics, the part of nature we study. It gives the image of nature following fixed rules, so the phrase means 'a basic rule that always works' in the physical world.