foot rule

American  

noun

1. a ruler one foot (30.48 centimeters) in length.

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foot rule British  

noun

1. a rigid measure, one foot in length

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Etymology

Origin of foot rule

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

"There will be occasions were the 20 foot rule would be unconstitutional, but I'm not sure that would make the statute unconstitutional on its face," he says.

From US News • Jan. 11, 2016

In measuring cloth, the distance from the elbow to the fingers is employed as we would use a foot rule or a yardstick.

From The World and Its People: Book VII Views in Africa by Badlam, Anna B.

This is a rule, we call it a folding foot rule.

From The Children's Six Minutes by Wright, Bruce S.

The other dramatists followed him in placing imaginative interpretation above measurements by the foot rule of the intellect.

From Halleck's New English Literature by Halleck, Reuben Post

Heaven help us!" he said, coming over to the spring, "I found him making for the shelter-house, armed with a foot rule!

From Where There's a Will by Rinehart, Mary Roberts