measure

Less common meanings

9. 9
   rulernouncountable

   An instrument for taking measurements, such as a ruler, a measuring stick, or a marked tape.

   The carpenter ran his measure along the edge of the plank.

   She kept a folding measure in her toolbox.

   UsageToday most often in tape measure.

   Similarruler, rule, tape, yardstick

10. 10
    bar (music)nouncountable

    In music, the group of notes and rests between two vertical bar lines, forming one equal division of a piece; a bar.

    The melody repeats the same rhythm for the opening measure.

    She marked a tricky measure in the score for extra practice.

    Similarbar

    Note

    The word names the span, not the lines. The vertical strokes that close it off are bars, and the span between two of them is also called a bar, so measure and bar are interchangeable. In a steady meter every complete measure holds the same number of beats. That is what lets musicians count through a score by them: four measures in, the opening measure.

11. 11
    nounarchaic

    The act or process of measuring something.
12. 12
    size (clothes)noununcountable

    The size of someone or something, as found by measuring (now mainly in the phrase made to measure).

    The jacket was cut to his measure by a London tailor.

    She prefers shirts made to measure rather than off the rack.

    UsageMostly in made to measure, hyphenated before a noun: a made-to-measure suit.

    Similarsize, dimensions

    Note

    Older English used the noun freely of any size. The King James Bible of 1611 can say, "The measure thereof is longer than the earth," of something too vast for any measuring.

13. 13
    containernouncountable

    A container or vessel of a standard size, used to deal out set quantities of a substance.

    She filled the copper measure with grain and emptied it into the sack.

    Each tavern kept a standard measure for serving ale.

    Note

    The kitchen keeps this sense alive. Here a measure is the vessel itself, made to a set size so that every fill delivers the same amount. A measure of salt can mean either the container or the salt it holds.

14. 14
    speak carefullyverbtransitive

    To regulate or restrain one's words or actions, as if carefully gauging their length or quantity.

    He measured his response carefully before replying to the critic.

    Good leaders measure their words in a crisis.

    UsageMost often measure your words, or measure every word.

    Similarweigh, temper, moderate, restrain, regulate

    Note

    Edward Berenson, in The Trial of Madame Caillaux (1992), describes a careful player "who measured her every word." The image is of speech doled out by length. The verb therefore suits calculation as much as calm: someone who measures their words may be prudent, or simply guarded. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Edward Berenson wrote The Trial of Madame Caillaux. ucpress.edu
    • The book was first published in 1992. ucpress.edu
    • Berenson describes a careful player using the exact words quoted. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    verbtransitive

    To mark off, set apart, or deal out something in measured amounts or lengths.

    Officials measure out water rations to each district during the drought.

    She measured out the inheritance among her three children.

    UsageUsually with out or off: measure out rations, measure off a length of cloth.

    Similarallot, apportion, ration, distribute, dole

    Note

    Often followed by out or off, as in water measured out in rations, or time "measured out by the sun" in Addison's words of 1711. The King James Bible of 1611 pairs it with an older verb: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Mete is the native Old English word that measure, borrowed through French from Latin mensura, largely displaced. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

    • Joseph Addison alone wrote the essay, published in The Spectator, no. 159, on September 1, 1711. gutenberg.org
    • The essay describes time as measured out by the sun. gutenberg.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. loc.gov
    • The quoted wording occurs in the King James Bible, pairing mete with measured. en.wikisource.org
    • Mete is inherited from Old English. en.wiktionary.org
    • Measure derives through French from Latin mensura. en.wiktionary.org
    • Measure largely displaced the native verb ancestral to mete. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    rhythm (poetry)nouncountable or uncountable

    The arrangement of long and short syllables in verse; meter or rhythm, and by extension a single metrical foot.

    The translator struggled to preserve the original measure of the Greek hexameter.

    Critics praised the poem's shifting measure, which quickened toward the end.

    Similarmeter, rhythm, cadence

    Note

    Prosody uses it as a near-synonym of meter, usually qualified by the kind of foot: a poem in iambic measure. The "quantities" being ordered are syllable lengths, long and short, combined into a repeating pattern. In the narrower use, a measure is a single foot, the unit that the larger pattern is built from. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Measure can mean meter or rhythm, with 'a poem in iambic measure' as an example, and can also mean a metrical foot. en.wiktionary.org
    • In quantitative verse, syllable lengths form the metrical pattern. en.wikipedia.org
    • A measure can denote one foot, and feet are units of the larger metrical pattern. poetry.harvard.edu
17. 17
    upper limitnoununcountable

    An upper limit that cannot be passed; a bound or ceiling.

    Their generosity, given without measure, sustained the village through the famine.

    Grief beyond measure settled over the household after the loss.

    UsageMostly in beyond measure, beyond all measure or without measure, meaning without limit.

    Similarlimit, bounds

    Note

    Mike Selvey, in The Guardian in 2009, found endless replays "irritating beyond measure." Milton could still use the noun freely in Paradise Lost (1667), writing "Full to the utmost measure of what bliss / Human desires can seek"; a modern writer would choose limit instead. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Mike Selvey described repeated replays as 'irritating beyond measure' in The Guardian in 2009. en.wiktionary.org
    • John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • The quoted words occur in Milton's Paradise Lost, in Adam's speech in Book V; the excerpt ends before 'or apprehend'. gutenberg.org
18. 18
    adjust to ruleverbtransitive

    To adjust something according to a rule or standard.

    To secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your fortunes by your desires

    1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living.

    Similaradjust, calibrate, tailor, regulate, temper

19. 19
    nounobsolete

    Moderation or temperance; restraint in conduct or feeling.

    I will correct thee in measure, and will not leaue thee altogether vnpunished.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    Note

    An old virtue the noun once named outright: keeping within due bounds. The King James Bible of 1611 still has it, "I will correct thee in measure," where in measure means moderately, not partly. The bare noun no longer carries this meaning. Today the idea survives in the verb, as in measuring one's words, and in its participle measured, as in measured speech. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The noun historically meant moderation or temperance. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. gla.ac.uk
    • The quoted words occur in the King James Bible, at Jeremiah 30:11. en.wikisource.org
    • In this passage, 'in measure' means with moderation. kingjamesbibleonline.org
20. 20
    tunenounarchaic

    A melody; a piece of music played or sung.

    The minstrel played an old measure that the whole court knew well.

    A mournful measure drifted out from the candlelit chapel.

    Note

    Here the word's sense of rhythm stretches to cover a whole tune, alongside the metrical sense and the dance. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Measure has a historical sense meaning a melody or tune. en.wiktionary.org
    • Measure also has a metrical or rhythmic sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • Measure also historically meant a dance. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    slow dancenounarchaic

    A dance, especially a slow and stately one.

    The lords and ladies trod a solemn measure before the throne.

    He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,— / "Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.

    1808, Walter Scott, Marmion

    UsageOften with tread: tread a measure.

    Note

    The verb that goes with it is tread: "Now tread we a measure!" says young Lochinvar in Walter Scott's Marmion (1808). Michael Arlen, in 1922, turned the word on modern dancing, calling its music a "tireless measure, that exquisitely asinine blare." He used the grandeur for mockery. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Tread is used with measure meaning a dance; young Lochinvar says the quoted words in Marmion. gutenberg.org
    • Walter Scott wrote Marmion, first published in 1808. walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk
    • The Arlen passage appeared in a work first published in 1922: Piracy: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days. gutenberg.org
    • Arlen's narrator uses the exact quoted wording for music accompanying contemporary dancing. gutenberg.org
    • The description of the dance music is mocking; attributing this specifically to the word's grandeur is a literary interpretation. gutenberg.org
22. 22
    nounarchaic

    A number that divides another a whole number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor.

    Note

    One number measures another when it goes into it exactly, the way a rod fits a length a whole number of times. The sense survives in the phrase greatest common measure: the largest number dividing two or more numbers evenly, now usually called the greatest common divisor or factor. It is a different idea from the measure of measure theory. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • One number measures another when it divides it exactly. gutenberg.org
    • The rod analogy accurately illustrates this arithmetic meaning. gutenberg.org
    • Greatest common measure means the largest number dividing the given numbers without remainder. en.wikipedia.org
    • Greatest common divisor and greatest common factor name the same concept. en.wikipedia.org
    • The divisor sense differs from the set-function sense in measure theory. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    verbraretransitive

    To travel over or pass along a distance or expanse.

    A true devoted pilgrim is not weary / To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps.

    c. 1590, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”

    Similartraverse, cross, cover, travel

    Note

    A rare, literary sense in which distance becomes something counted out in steps. Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona gives the line: a devoted pilgrim is not weary "to measure kingdoms with his feeble steps." The image works best when the effort of travel shows, which is why it pairs naturally with steps. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote The Two Gentlemen of Verona. gutenberg.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in the play, spoken by Julia in Act II, scene VII. gutenberg.org
24. 24
    noun

    A function that assigns sizes to sets, created to generalize the ideas of length, volume, and probability.
25. 25
    noun

    A bed or stratum of rock or coal.