measure
/ˈmɛʒə
/verb [with object]
1Ascertain the size, amount, or degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard units: the amount of water collected is measured in pints (as adjective measuring) measuring instruments...
- Either measure the amount in ounces or measure the depth of water in each jar.
- A nautical instrument used to measure the altitude of stars and planets in the sky in order to determine a ship's exact direction.
- Devices that measure the evaporation of water such as atmometers may be useful.
Synonyms
take the measurements of, calculate, compute, estimate, count, meter, quantify, weigh, size, evaluate, rate, assess, appraise, gauge, plumb, measure out, determine, judge, survey
survey, quantify, take the measurements of, weigh, appraise, determine;
estimate, count, meter
1.1Be of (a specified size or degree): the fabric measures 137 cm wide...
- An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude rocked the region today.
- That's no problem as the juicer measures a compact 15 inches high by ten inches wide, so it can fit easily into most kitchen cupboards or presses.
- In October an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Japan's Niigata prefecture.
1.2Ascertain the size and proportions of (someone) in order to make or provide clothes for them: he will be measured for his team blazer next week...
- They were tailors, and they promptly began measuring her for clothes.
- It raised its rotting hands, mentally measuring Ben to see what size clothes he was best suited for.
- I am going to measure you and then recommend a bra size.
1.3 (measure something out) Take an exact quantity of something: she helped to measure out the ingredients...
- However, compared to how much it costs to buy a small 1/2 lb block of chocolate normally, it turned out to be good value, and it keeps well if you store it in a cool dark place, not to mention the ease with which you can measure it out!
- Mama took some time cutting the sugar-cake and I was certain it was because she was measuring it out, making sure everyone got the same sized piece.
- I don't measure them out in coffee spoons, you know.
Synonyms
mark off, mark the boundaries/limits of, measure out, demarcate, delimit, delineate, outline, describe, define, stake out
pour out, dole out, deal out;
dispense, administer, issue
2Assess the importance, effect, or value of (something): it is hard to measure teaching ability...
- Many corporations are recognizing the importance of measuring a variety of factors, says Hoog.
- It's very hard for me to measure the success of that.
- Contemporary buildings have long lost their ability to accurately measure the urban significance of what they hold.
Synonyms
choose carefully, select with care, consider, think carefully about, plan, calculate
2.1 (measure someone/thing against) Judge someone or something by comparison with (a certain standard): she did not need to measure herself against some ideal...
- In 50 years' time, will we still be measuring educational standards against O-levels?
- Districts choose from commercially available standardized tests to measure students against national norms.
- He set standards that all great bowlers are measured against.
Synonyms
compare with, contrast with, put into competition with;
pit, set, match, test, judge
2.2 [no object] (measure up) Reach the required or expected standard: I’m afraid we didn’t measure up to the standards they set...
- I had been making my first movie in my head for so long, I don't think anything would have measured up to my standards.
- If the milk measures up to quality standards, it is hooked up to a receiving pump, passed through a filter and forwarded to one of six silos depending on its composition.
- The table below shows how the United States measures up to this simple standard of fairness.
Synonyms
come up to standard, achieve the required standard, fulfil expectations, fit/fill the bill, pass muster, do well;
be capable, be acceptable, be satisfactory, be adequate, be suitable
informal come up to scratch, make the grade, cut the mustard, be up to snuff
achieve, meet, come up to, equal, be equal to, match, rival, vie with, bear comparison with, be on a level with, serve, satisfy, fulfil, comply with
2.3 (measure someone up) Scrutinize someone in order to form an assessment of them: the two shook hands and silently measured each other up...
- I looked at the family more closely because I could tell that they were measuring me up.
- Narrowed brown eyes studied her, measuring her up.
- She glared at Ellee, measuring her up with her own angry eyes.
Synonyms
evaluate, rate, assess, appraise, judge, adjudge, weigh up, size up, survey
3 archaic Travel over (a certain distance or area): we must measure twenty miles today
noun
1A plan or course of action taken to achieve a particular purpose: cost-cutting measures children were evacuated as a precautionary measure...
- A company spokesman said no further cost-cutting measures were planned for its Irish operations.
- It said cost-cutting measures and cost control remain the focus for more than one-third of organisations in 2004.
- Banks will also be asked to draw up measures to achieve gender equality, and agree a plan for achieving targets.
Synonyms
action, act, course, course of action, deed, proceeding, procedure, step, means, expedient;
manoeuvre, initiative, programme, operation, control, legal action
1.1A legislative bill: the Senate passed the measure by a 48-30 vote...
- Yet the odds are against the measure as legislated policy.
- In this tidal wave of deregulatory measures, the anti-discrimination legislation escaped almost unscathed.
- German chancellor Gerhard Schroder announced that his cabinet would soon pass measures to outlaw Islamic organisations deemed to have abused their religious status.
Synonyms
statute, act, bill, law, legislation
2A standard unit used to express the size, amount, or degree of something: a furlong is an obsolete measure of length tables of weights and measures...
- Most confusing are the measures of kilos, hectares, kilometers, centimeters, and grams.
- It was an old one, with weight and measures on the top.
- Invariable uniformity of value in the currency, has a relation to the interests of the people, similar to that of uniformity of weights and measures.
Synonyms
system, standard, units, scale
2.1 [mass noun] A system or scale of units expressing size, amount, or degree of something: the dimensions were in imperial measure...
- Often the two sets of data have very different scales of measure, so a bar graph would not work.
2.2A standard quantity or amount: heavy drinking may be five measures of spirits per day...
- Don't let the late-night munchies make you pay £1.50 for a Mars bar or £6 for a single measure of spirits.
Synonyms
portion, quantity, amount, quota, ration, allowance, allocation
2.3A container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance: gifts have included silver measures from a whisky company
2.4A graduated rod or tape used for ascertaining the size of something: most schools had only metric measures available
Synonyms
ruler, tape measure, rule, gauge, meter, scale, level, yardstick
3A certain quantity or degree of something: the states retain a large measure of independence...
- This they did with a fair measure of success from the 1940s through to the 1970s.
- Well, if we're all still speaking at the end and the PIC site is being accessed and used, we have a good measure of success.
- There was more than one instance where claws sunk into soft tissue and offered them a small measure of success.
Synonyms
certain amount, amount, degree, quantity
3.1An indication of the degree, extent, or quality of something: his resignation is a measure of how angry he is...
- It would at least have given a clear measure of the extent of anti-agreement sentiment in the unionist community.
- It is a measure of the quality you can expect to hear, however, that whatever you pay to see them will probably be worth it.
- I'm happy to accept this wager as a measure of the quality of my predictions about the long term sustainability of commons-based peer production.
Synonyms
yardstick, test, standard, norm, barometer, touchstone, litmus test, criterion, benchmark
4The rhythm of a piece of poetry or a piece of music.The golden measure of poetry does not yet exist, only the rhythm of the maracas, the exact sound of the kettledrum....
- The show coasted on sheer mastery of compas, the rhythmic measure that defines all flamenco, and on the charisma of the artists probing the art's dark and light moods.
Synonyms
metre, cadence, rhythm, foot
4.1A particular metrical unit or group: measures of two or three syllables are more frequent in English prose
4.2North American A bar of music or the time of a piece of music.Play the last four notes of each measure staccato, or make a crescendo into the next measure....
- We sense the tragedy of the poetic ballad and the noble lineage of its characters in the very opening measures of the musical rendering.
- There are rarely more than four measures of music without a voice-over.
4.3 archaic A dance, typically one that is stately: now tread we a measure!...
- The birds twitter, the horn calls back, the mountain folk dance a droll measure, and all's right with the Alpine world.
- Ben watched with amazement that turned to pride as Hoss delicately guided Alberta Evans into the first few measures of the dance.
- Ian laughed lightly and then swept her into the first measure of the dance.
Synonyms
dance, step, caper, hop
5 (measures) [with modifier] A group of rock strata.
6 Mathematics A quantity contained in another an exact number of times; a divisor.
7 Printing The width of a full line of type or print, typically expressed in picas.
Phrases
beyond measure
for good measure
get (or take or have) the measure of
hard measure
in —— measure
measure one's length
measure one's words
measure of capacity
in no small measure
take measures
Derivatives
measurer
- There is a scale in one corner, beside a tape measurer.
- I'd love to tell you more details about how she operates in the kitchen - whether she is a precise measurer or just a chop-it-and-toss-it-in-the-bowl kind of cook - but she threw me out of the kitchen.
- The measurer grips the tape and holds it up before him to look at the numbers.
Origin
Middle English (as a noun in the senses 'moderation', 'instrument for measuring', 'unit of capacity'): from Old French mesure, from Latin mensura, from mens- 'measured', from the verb metiri.
moon from Old English:
The words moon, month, and measure (Middle English) all go back to the same ancient root. Since the earliest times people have looked at the full moon and seen a face or figure there, which has been identified as the man in the moon since the Middle Ages. The patterns on the moon's disc were formerly also seen as a man leaning on a fork and carrying a bundle of sticks or as a man with his dog and a thorn bush, while other cultures have seen a rabbit, hare, frog, or other animal. The expression over the moon, ‘extremely happy’, though it goes back to the early 18th century, is now particularly associated with post-match remarks from victorious footballers and football managers (along with its opposite, sick as a parrot). The origins of it lie in a nursery rhyme beginning ‘Hey diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon’. The distance and unattainability of the moon is behind such phrases as to cry for the moon ‘to ask for what is impossible or unattainable’ and to promise someone the moon. For a dog to bark at the moon is a singularly pointless act, and people have used it to express futility since the mid 17th century. See also blue