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Synonyms

ferule

1 American  
[fer-uhl, -ool] / ˈfɛr əl, -ul /

noun

  1. Also a rod, cane, or flat piece of wood for punishing children, especially by striking them on the hand.


verb (used with object)

feruled, feruling
  1. to punish with a ferule.

ferule 2 American  
[fer-uhl, -ool] / ˈfɛr əl, -ul /

noun

feruled, feruling
  1. ferrule.


ferule 1 British  
/ -rəl, ˈfɛruːl /

noun

  1. a flat piece of wood, such as a ruler, used in some schools to cane children on the hand

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. rare (tr) to punish with a ferule

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ferule 2 British  
/ ˈfɛruːl, -rəl /

noun

  1. a variant spelling of ferrule

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

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

Jenny used to sit for hours together in St. James's Park, scratching aimlessly upon the gravel with the ferule of her parasol.

From Carnival by MacKenzie, Compton

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.

From Respiration Calorimeters for Studying the Respiratory Exchange and Energy Transformations of Man by Benedict, Francis Gano

Then Miss Simmonds stuck her big umbrella ferule down in the turf, and took the big book from under her arm.

From Shireen and her Friends Pages from the Life of a Persian Cat by Stables, Gordon

The mouth-piece is made of a circlet of silk-grass, and the farther end is feruled with a kind of nut, forming a sight.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various

He has his volunteer Bodyguard of Tappe-durs, let us say Strike-sharps, fierce Patriots with feruled sticks; and Jacobins kissing the hem of his garment.

From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas

“I thank you, Mamie,” said she at last; and she stroked the little hand given to her so loyally for the sacrificial feruling, but she turned her eyes away.

From Miss Ashton's New Pupil A School Girl's Story by Robbins, Mrs. S. S.

For another full minute he stared down at the girl, but he apparently had no longer any thought of feruling her.

From A Busy Year at the Old Squire's by Stephens, C. A. (Charles Asbury)

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