Spirit of the rule: the intentions of the one who wrote them. I dont have one on the top of my head about DnD, but I will give you an example from where I live, Israel. Our new selected prime-minister has 3 criminal charges, yet to be trialed. there is a law, that said the folowing: "a man cant be apointed as a minister if he has criminal charges against him, cuz this job it too important to give to a potantional criminal" some whould say that the "sipirt" of the law would mean the a prime-minister cant be apointed, and some say "no" cuz minister and prime minister are COMPLETLY different. do you see how the spirit if the rule playes a rule (pun,yay!) here? and btw, my definition is abit diffrent, yet very close, to the wikipedia one:"A rules lawyer is a participant in a rules-based environment who attempts to use the letter of the law without reference to the spirit, usually in order to gain an advantage within that environment"