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  1. ferule love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An instrument, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children.
  2. v. To punish with a ferule.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A reed; a cane.
  2. n. A cane, rod, or flat piece of wood, as a ruler, used for the punishment of children in schools by striking some part of the body, particularly the palm of the hand.
  3. To punish with a ferule.
  4. n. See ferrule.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A ruler-shaped instrument, generally used to slap naughty children on the hand.
  2. v. transitive To punish with a ferule.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A flat piece of wood, used for striking, children, esp. on the hand, in punishment.
  2. n. rare A ferrule.
  3. v. To punish with a ferule.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a switch (a stick or cane or flat paddle) used to punish children

Etymologies

  1. Middle English ferul, fennel stalk, from Latin ferula, fennel stalk, rod. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “A ferule was a sort of flat ruler, widened at the inflicting end into a shape resembling a pear, -- but nothing like so sweet, -- with a delectable hole in the middle to raise blisters, like a cupping-glass.”

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864

  • “The addition of a ferule was the next step; and the omission of the tang, and amalgamation of the ferule with the blade, gave rise to the socketed spear-head.”

    The Bronze Age in Ireland

  • “The ferule was a name given both to the bamboo and to the yellow cane, which grew plentifully both in the islands of the Greek Archipelago and in”

    Roman life in the days of Cicero

  • “The insulation from the copper wall is made by a rubber stopper through which this piping is passed, the stopper being crowded into a brass ferule which is stoutly soldered to the copper wall.”

    Respiration Calorimeters for Studying the Respiratory Exchange and Energy Transformations of Man

  • “I'm glad that hating on interiority is still ok because a significant portion of my book is about that, and I wouldn't want to end up on the wrong side of the ferule. anumma commented at 6:34 PM~”

    Ferule & Fescue

  • “If I can't find a pipe maker to tinker with this ferule or make me a new one, we may be looking at digging way down deep in the saddlebags and funding a new border pipe.”

    Obituaries

  • “And I think a crack has developed in the top ferule of the bass drone.”

    Obituaries

  • “They are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money.”

    The Love of Books : The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury

  • “Soon after disengaging himself with perfect good humour, he had a sensation of the ferule in his back; immediately afterwards, of the hook entangling his ankles; then of the umbrella generally, wandering about his hat, and flapping at it like a great bird; and, lastly, of a poke or thrust below the ribs, which give him such exceeding anguish, that he could not refrain from turning round to offer a mild remonstrance.”

    The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit

  • “As for the name of this blog: the ferule and fescue were the two most important instruments of the schoolmaster of old--his rod or cane (ferule) and his pointer (fescue).”

    Archive 2006-05-01

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. <er>ferrule</er

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. switch

same context (10)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. knitting needle
  2. skua
  1. bed-place
  2. branding iron
  1. bow window
  2. bushing
  1. sweet gum
  2. clarionet
  1. water glass
  2. knout

reverse dictionary (7)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. ferrule
  1. palmer
  1. palm-mate
  1. Ferula
  1. ferular
  1. ferule
  1. toe-ring

tagging (2)

Words tagged ‘ferule’

  1. ferrule
  1. palmer

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‘ferule’ has been looked up 1918 times, added to 16 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 9.