cloth yard

a unit of measure for cloth, formerly 37 inches (0.93 meter), now the equivalent of the standard yard (0.91 meter); 36 inches; 3 feet.

QUIZZES

Fend Off Sciolism With This Word Of The Day Quiz

Are you the Cinderella of this week’s quiz? Test your memory on the words and definitions from March 23–29.

Question 1 of 7

schlep

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Very few fled, very few had the opportunity of flying; for the cloth-yard shaft never missed its aim.
The Eighteen Christian Centuries|James White
No answer came, for the English archers stood silent, holding each a cloth-yard arrow ready for the string.
With the Black Prince|William Osborn Stoddard
Know then that the sheath is one cloth-yard, in length, marked off according to feet and inches to serve me as a measuring wand.
The White Company|Arthur Conan Doyle
Fork-headed shafts of a cloth-yard in length, and these shot within the breadth of a French crown, are sting enough.
The Literary World Seventh Reader|Various

He was a mighty archer with those national weapons, the long-bow and the cloth-yard shaft.
From Chaucer to Tennyson|Henry A. Beers