rule the day

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rule the day (third-person singular simple present rules the day, present participle ruling the day, simple past and past participle ruled the day)

1. (idiomatic) To set the standard which guides behavior; to control a situation, group, strategy, etc.
   • 1700, John Dryden, The Secular Masque:

     The world was then so light,
     I scarcely felt the weight;
     Joy ruled the day, and Love the night.

   • 1877, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter 5, in Theo:

     She was a woman of caprices, and her caprices always ruled the day.

   • 1995 December 18, Derek Pringle, “Cricket: Matthews fingered over his thumbs”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 1 Sept 2017:

     [C]ommon sense rules the day. . . . Everything can look suspicious, but only the umpires can tell if the ball's condition has been altered.

   • 2004 January 19, John F. Dickerson, “Confessions Of A White House Insider”, in Time, retrieved 1 Sept 2017:

     A book about former Treasury chief O'Neill paints a presidency in which ideology and politics rule the day.

   • 2016 January 19, Jane A. Peterson, “At Watch Auctions, Vintage and Prime to Be Most Prized Qualities”, in New York Times, retrieved 1 Sept 2017:

     “Vintage watch collecting is growing in scale and value in a way we have never seen before. Condition and rarity are ruling the day in driving prices to new levels.”

• rue the day