Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Regulate

Regulate (-lāt) , transitive verb

[Latin regulatus, past participle of regulare, from regula. See Regular.]

1.
To adjust by rule, method, or established mode; to direct by rule or restriction; to subject to governing principles or laws.
The laws which regulate the successions of the seasons.
The herdsmen near the frontier adjudicated their own disputes, and regulated their own police. — Bancroft
2.
To put in good order; as, to regulate the disordered state of a nation or its finances.
3.
To adjust, or maintain, with respect to a desired rate, degree, or condition; as, to regulate the temperature of a room, the pressure of steam, the speed of a machine, etc.
Collocations (1)
To regulate a watch or To regulate a clock , to adjust its rate of running so that it will keep approximately standard time.