From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishregulatereg‧u‧late /ˈreɡjəleɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] 1 RULE/REGULATIONto control an activity or process, especially by rules strict rules regulating the use of chemicals in food2 TEMCONTROLto make a machine or your body work at a particular speed, temperature etc People sweat to regulate their body heat.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
regulate• Make sure a company is officially regulated and authorised before you hand over any of your money.• Sweating helps regulate body temperature.• Above all, they should not be imposed and regulated by a central power.• Their wages had been regulated by act of parliament since 1773 and they were awarded an increase in 1795.• Meat and poultry are regulated by the Agriculture Department.• But he is vague about how to enforce this; essentially he would trust the industry to regulate itself.• The drug helps to regulate Ryan's heartbeat.• A hand-operate switch is used to regulate the gas flow.• And if accountants are not to be commercial, who is it who will regulate their fees, incomes and salaries?• Industrial labour was at last being regulated, water supplies purified, hospitals sanitised and prisons reformed.From Longman Business Dictionaryregulatereg‧u‧late /ˈregjəleɪt/ verb [transitive]LAW to check that business activities, financial activities etc are legal and fairThe Personal Investment Authority regulates the selling of ISAs to the public.Many futures exchanges are closely regulated.The City has so far failed to regulate itself effectively. → compare deregulate→ See Verb tableOrigin regulate (1400-1500) Late Latin past participle of regulare, from Latin regula; → REGULAR1 