Meanings
present singular third person rules in · participle present ruling in · participle past ruled in · past ruled in
- idiomatictransitiveTo consider (something) as a possible option among others.
It was coming from a credible source, someone with a track record, someone who was a credible and respected member of an allied intelligence service during his career, and so it was important that we try to understand it, and see what could we verify, what could we rule in or rule out.
2018 April 15, James Comey, “ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)Synonyms: consider
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo consider (something) as a possible option among others.
More synonyms by meaning
verbinclude or exclude by determining judicially or in agreement with rules
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By analogy with rule out.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
rule in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rule%20in
“rule in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rule%20in. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rule in,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rule%20in.
Source: rule in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.