ferule
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of ferule
1375–1425; late Middle English ferula, ferul ( e ) giant fennel < Latin ferula schoolmaster's rod (literally, stalk of giant fennel); replacing Old English ferele < Latin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A kind of miracle happened: the ferule of the teacher became the poet's magic wand.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yen picked up his ferule and hit it like a student.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
He handled a ferule while the Miserere lasted, although he did not, on account of the entreaties of those who were present, strike the capitulars with it.
When a child was sent to school in those days, the classic phrase was that he was placed under Mr. So-and-so's ferule.
From Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by Saintsbury, George
If he should curve his elbow in the least, it would get a rap from the master's ferule.
From Little Grandmother by May, Sophie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
