Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin-American unit of linear measure varying from about 81 to 109 centimeters (32 to 43 inches).
  • noun A square vara.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Spanish-American linear measure. In Texas the vara is regarded as equal to 33⅓ English inches; in California, by common consent, it is taken to be exactly 33 English inches. In Mexico it is 32.9927 inches.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A Spanish measure of length equal to about one yard. The vara now in use equals 33.385 inches.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a unit of length, a yard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a Spanish unit of length (about a yard) having different values in different localities

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish and Portuguese, rod, both from Latin vāra, forked pole, from vārus, bent.]

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Examples

  • But also he has the title of Îśvara, which is specially applied to Śiva.

    Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 Charles Eliot 1896

  • I once existed in Texas and I was reared by pioneer single-parent leather-hide Texian ladies and I never remember hearing the word "vara" used or defined.

    Varia The Daily Growler 2006

  • Mounted on a pony that could cover something near a "vara" at a step, with a pocket compass to direct his course, he would trot out a survey by counting the beat of his pony's hoofs, mark his corners, and write out his field notes with the complacency produced by an act of duty well performed.

    Whirligigs O. Henry 1886

  • (Må inte vara våra genrer, men det är den bästa Hollywoodfilm som någonsin gjorts, och Hollywood är väl science fiction, fantasy och skräck all rolled up in one?) - If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it.

    Wuv. Twu wuv. (Semifinal 1) 2010

  • Veckans fight blir första semifinalen i ämnet - det var så många som ville vara med!

    Wuv. Twu wuv. (Semifinal 1) 2010

  • Jag vill tacka för äran att vara här, tacka Svenska Akademien, tacka svenska folket och jag vill också tacka skogen.

    Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio - Banquet Speech 2008

  • Äkta vara: noveller/översättning: Britt Arenander och Solveig Nellinge.

    The Nobel Prize in Literature 2007 - Bio-bibliography 2007

  • Adorno de tela que, sobre unos aros y con forma de cilindro acabado en cono, cubre parte de la vara de la cruz de algunas parroquias.

    mangas de cruz - translation sought 2007

  • Adorno de tela que, sobre unos aros y con forma de cilindro acabado en cono, cubre parte de la vara de la cruz de algunas parroquias.

    mangas de cruz - translation sought 2007

  • Och som ett brev på posten skriver Jeff Jarvis om författandet, varför böcker ska vara processer och inte produkter: This vision came from my readers.

    Book as process, not product « BuzzMachine 2009

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