Definition of policy

• n. - Civil polity.
• n. - The settled method by which the government and affairs of a nation are, or may be, administered; a system of public or official administration, as designed to promote the external or internal prosperity of a state.
• n. - The method by which any institution is administered; system of management; course.
• n. - Management or administration based on temporal or material interest, rather than on principles of equity or honor; hence, worldly wisdom; dexterity of management; cunning; stratagem.
• n. - Prudence or wisdom in the management of public and private affairs; wisdom; sagacity; wit.
• n. - Motive; object; inducement.
• v. t. - To regulate by laws; to reduce to order.
• n. - A ticket or warrant for money in the public funds.
• n. - The writing or instrument in which a contract of insurance is embodied; an instrument in writing containing the terms and conditions on which one party engages to indemnify another against loss arising from certain hazards, perils, or risks to which his person or property may be exposed. See Insurance.
• n. - A method of gambling by betting as to what numbers will be drawn in a lottery; as, to play policy.