# measure

Pronunciation: US say "MEZH-ur" /ˈmɛʒ.ɚ/; UK say "MEZH-uh" /ˈmɛʒ.ə/

## Verb

1. To determine the quantity of something by comparing it against a fixed standard or unit.
   - Simple: To find out the size, amount, or weight of something by comparing it to a known standard.
   - _Scientists measure rainfall using calibrated gauges placed across the region._
   - _The surveyor measured the field before the boundary dispute went to court._
3. To be of a particular size or have a particular measurement.
   - Simple: To have a certain size, length, or amount.
   - _Adult blue whales can measure over ninety feet long._
   - _The plank measured two meters from end to end._
5. To judge, value, or appraise someone or something.
   - Simple: To judge the value or worth of someone or something.
   - _Critics measured the new film against the director's earlier classics._
   - _We should not measure our worth by other people's opinions._
14. To regulate or restrain one's words or actions, as if carefully gauging their length or quantity.
   - Simple: To carefully control your words or actions.
   - _He measured his response carefully before replying to the critic._
   - _Good leaders measure their words in a crisis._
15. To mark off, set apart, or deal out something in measured amounts or lengths.
   - Simple: To divide something into set amounts or lengths, or give it out in those amounts.
   - _Officials measure out water rations to each district during the drought._
   - _She measured out the inheritance among her three children._
18. To adjust something according to a rule or standard.
   - Simple: To change something so it fits a rule or set standard.

## Noun

2. An action taken to achieve a particular purpose or solve a problem.
   - Simple: An action taken to deal with a problem or reach a goal.
   - _The government introduced new measures to reduce pollution._
   - _As a precautionary measure, the company backed up all its files._
4. A standard or criterion against which something can be judged.
   - Simple: A standard you use to judge how good or how much something is.
   - _Test scores became the school's main measure of progress._
   - _For many readers, a novel's measure is whether its characters feel real._
6. A law or proposed law put forward for a governing body to decide on.
   - Simple: A law or proposed law that a government votes on.
   - _Congress passed the measure after months of debate._
   - _The proposed measures would tighten safety rules for factories._
7. An unspecified portion or quantity of something.
   - Simple: An amount of something, often not exactly counted.
   - _His plan brought a measure of order to the chaotic office._
   - _They achieved a fair measure of success in their first year._
8. A standard unit used to express a quantity such as size, weight, or volume.
   - Simple: A fixed unit used to say how big or how much something is.
   - _An inch is a measure of length still widely used in the United States._
   - _Engineers chose the newton as their measure of force._
9. An instrument for taking measurements, such as a ruler, a measuring stick, or a marked tape.
   - Simple: A tool such as a ruler or tape used for measuring.
   - _The carpenter ran his measure along the edge of the plank._
   - _She kept a folding measure in her toolbox._
10. In music, the group of notes and rests between two vertical bar lines, forming one equal division of a piece; a bar.
   - Simple: In music, a small group of beats marked off by lines on the page, also called a bar.
   - _The melody repeats the same rhythm for the opening measure._
   - _She marked a tricky measure in the score for extra practice._
12. The size of someone or something, as found by measuring (now mainly in the phrase made to measure).
   - Simple: The size of a person or thing, found by measuring.
   - _The jacket was cut to his measure by a London tailor._
   - _She prefers shirts made to measure rather than off the rack._
13. A container or vessel of a standard size, used to deal out set quantities of a substance.
   - Simple: A container of a set size used to serve out exact amounts.
   - _She filled the copper measure with grain and emptied it into the sack._
   - _Each tavern kept a standard measure for serving ale._
16. The arrangement of long and short syllables in verse; meter or rhythm, and by extension a single metrical foot.
   - Simple: The pattern of beats and rhythm in a line of poetry.
   - _The translator struggled to preserve the original measure of the Greek hexameter._
   - _Critics praised the poem's shifting measure, which quickened toward the end._
17. An upper limit that cannot be passed; a bound or ceiling.
   - Simple: The most that is allowed or possible, a top limit.
   - _Their generosity, given without measure, sustained the village through the famine._
   - _Grief beyond measure settled over the household after the loss._

## Noun

11. The act or process of measuring something. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The act of finding the size or amount of something.
19. Moderation or temperance; restraint in conduct or feeling. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Self-control, and not doing too much of anything.
20. A melody; a piece of music played or sung. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A tune or simple piece of music.
   - _The minstrel played an old measure that the whole court knew well._
   - _A mournful measure drifted out from the candlelit chapel._
21. A dance, especially a slow and stately one. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A slow, graceful dance.
   - _The lords and ladies trod a solemn measure before the throne._
   - _She partnered the visiting duke in a graceful measure._
22. A number that divides another a whole number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A number that divides another number evenly, with nothing left over.

## Verb

23. To travel over or pass along a distance or expanse. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To travel across or over a place.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A function that assigns sizes to sets, created to generalize the ideas of length, volume, and probability.
- (noun) A bed or stratum of rock or coal.

## Origin

Latin mēnsūra ("a measure"), built on mētior ("to measure") plus -tūra, passed into Old French as mesure and then into Middle English as mesure. The borrowing largely pushed aside the native Old English words metan ("to measure," source of modern mete) and ġemet ("a measure").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/measure (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).