Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

reign

2 verb
     
Related topics: Officials
reign2 [intransitive]
1PGO to rule a nation or group of nations as their king, queen, or emperor:
George VI reigned from 1936 to 1952.
reign over
Pharaohs reigned over Egypt for centuries.
2 literary if a feeling or quality reigns, it exists strongly for a period of time:
For several minutes confusion reigned.
Silence reigned while we waited for news.
3

reigning champion

DS the most recent winner of a competition:
Can he defeat the reigning Wimbledon champion?
4

reign supreme

if someone or something reigns supreme, they are the most important part of a situation or time:
It was a time when romance reigned supreme.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary