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Glite Dictionary
to rule in favor of

to rule in favor of

12 5.3
Decide that one person or group should win a legal case
  • phrasal verb
  • /ruːl ɪn ˈfeɪvər ʌv/
  • Formal
translation icon : fallar a favor de
  • In general, the Appellate Division disregarded the rights of the individual and ruled in favor of the state.
  • rule in favor of the plaintiff
  • rule in favor of the defendant
  • the court ruled in favor of

And this week the Supreme Court ruled in favour of employment protections for LGBT people, those communities.

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Examples

  • In trial, each attorney tries to persuade the judge to eventually rule in favor of his or her case.

    Academic text (2003)

  • In light of this new evidence, the court must rule in favor of Mrs. Cole.

    Liar Liar (1997)

  • And as a result, as painful as it may be... I must rule in favor of the defense... and rule that the evidence be excluded.

    The Star Chamber (1983)

  • The district court ruled in favor of the defendants.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Women were twice as likely as men to rule in favor of the plaintiff.

    Academic text (2002)

  • I rule in favour of the plaintiff.

    North (1994)

  • The judge ended up ruling in favor of Elon Musk.

  • Surprisingly, the court ruled in favor of Captain Gunn.

    Academic text (2009)

  • In a six-to-three decision, the high court ruled in favor of the school district's drug-testing policy.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The judge decided to rule in favor of the defendant after reviewing the evidence presented.

Synonyms

to adjudicate
vsto rule in favor of
  • Formal
17 7.8

To make an official decision about a disagreement, often in court or a contest

decides in a way that supports one party rather than staying neutral

How Favorable

to vindicate
54 8.6
to rule in favor of
  • Formal
12 5.3
to dismiss
  • Formal
192 4.1

Surface Forms

rule in favor of infinitive
ruled in favor of past
ruled in favor of past participle
ruling in favor of present participle
rules in favor of third person singular

Morphology

rule + in + favor + of

The meaning is directly compositional: 'rule' = to make a formal decision and 'in favor of' = supporting one side, so a learner who knows these constituents can infer that a judge 'rules in favor of' someone. This legal usage follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (decide + support one party) and thus is readily understandable to B1 learners who know the words.

Etymology

Rule in favor of comes from a simple picture: imagine a judge with a pair of scales tipping toward one side. Here, rule means 'to decide' and favor means 'to support', so to rule in favor of someone is for the court to make a decision that supports that person.