"cardinal rule" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cardinal rules",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cardinal rule (plural cardinal rules)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Randall Tabor, Homer Is Where the Heart Is, page 132",
          "text": "Obviously they were well aware of the cardinal rule of being a college freshman: all's fair in innocent prankage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fundamental rule, upon which other matters hinge."
      ],
      "id": "en-cardinal_rule-en-noun-n6JXdDp0",
      "links": [
        [
          "fundamental",
          "fundamental"
        ],
        [
          "hinge",
          "hinge"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cardinal rule"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cardinal rules",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cardinal rule (plural cardinal rules)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Randall Tabor, Homer Is Where the Heart Is, page 132",
          "text": "Obviously they were well aware of the cardinal rule of being a college freshman: all's fair in innocent prankage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fundamental rule, upon which other matters hinge."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fundamental",
          "fundamental"
        ],
        [
          "hinge",
          "hinge"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cardinal rule"
}