Governing meaning : To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in. To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain. To exercise a deciding or determining influence on. To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate. To exercise political authority; to run a government. To have or exercise a determining influence. (grammar) To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.