measure
Americannoun
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measures
plural
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a unit or standard of measurement.
weights and measures.
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a system of measurement.
liquid measure.
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an instrument, as a graduated rod or a container of standard capacity, for measuring.
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the extent, dimensions, quantity, etc., of something, ascertained especially by comparison with a standard.
to take the measure of a thing.
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the act or process of ascertaining the extent, dimensions, or quantity of something; measurement.
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a definite or known quantity measured out.
to drink a measure of wine.
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any standard of comparison, estimation, or judgment.
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a quantity, degree, or proportion.
in large measure.
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a moderate amount.
to live with a measure of enjoyment.
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a limit, or an extent or degree not to be exceeded.
to know no measure.
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reasonable bounds or limits.
to know no measure.
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a legislative bill or enactment.
The senate passed the new measure.
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Usually measures. actions or procedures intended as a means to an end.
to take measures to avert suspicion.
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a short rhythmical movement or arrangement, as in poetry or music.
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a particular kind of such arrangement.
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a metrical unit.
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Music.
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the music contained between two bar lines; bar.
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an air or melody.
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a slow, dignified dance.
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Printing. the width, measured in ems or picas, to which a column or page of printed matter is set.
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Geology. measures, beds; strata.
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Mathematics. an abstraction of the property of length; a set function assigning to each set of a collection of sets a value, usually having the properties of sigma finiteness and finite additivity, the functional value of the whole collection being greater than zero.
verb (used with object)
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measures,
present (3rd person singular)
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measured,
past participle, past
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measuring
present participle
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to ascertain the extent, dimensions, quantity, capacity, etc., of, especially by comparison with a standard.
to measure boundaries.
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to mark off or deal out by way of measurement (often followed by off orout ).
to measure out two cups of flour.
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to estimate the relative amount, value, etc., of, by comparison with some standard.
to measure the importance of an issue.
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to judge or appraise by comparison with something or someone else.
to measure Corneille against Racine.
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to serve as the measure of.
Her sacrifices measure the degree of her love.
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to adjust or proportion.
to measure a portion to one's liking.
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to bring into comparison or competition.
to measure one's strength with another's.
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to travel over; traverse.
to measure a room with great strides.
verb (used without object)
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measures,
present (3rd person singular)
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measured,
past participle, past
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measuring
present participle
-
to take measurements.
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to admit of measurement.
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to be of a specified measure.
verb phrase
idioms
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beyond measure, too much to be reckoned; immeasurably; extremely.
The suffering that they endured was beyond measure.
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in a / some measure, to some extent or degree.
His conclusion is justified in some measure.
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for good measure, as an extra.
In addition to dessert, they served chocolates for good measure.
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measure one's length, to fall or be knocked down; fall flat.
He missed a step in the dark and measured his length at the bottom.
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measure swords,
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to test one's preparedness for a contest or encounter.
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to battle with swords.
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to fight, compete, etc..
The producer of the poorly reviewed show decided to measure swords with the critics.
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have / take someone's measure, to judge or assess someone's character, capabilities, etc.; size up.
During their conversation she was taking his measure as a prospective employee.
noun
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the extent, quantity, amount, or degree of something, as determined by measurement or calculation
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a device for measuring distance, volume, etc, such as a graduated scale or container
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a system of measurement
give the size in metric measure
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a standard used in a system of measurements
the international prototype kilogram is the measure of mass in SI units
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a specific or standard amount of something
a measure of grain
short measure
full measure
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a basis or standard for comparison
his work was the measure of all subsequent attempts
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reasonable or permissible limit or bounds
we must keep it within measure
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degree or extent (often in phrases such as in some measure, in a measure, etc)
they gave him a measure of freedom
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(often plural) a particular action intended to achieve an effect
they took measures to prevent his leaving
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a legislative bill, act, or resolution
to bring in a measure
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music another word for bar 1
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prosody poetic rhythm or cadence; metre
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a metrical foot
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poetic a melody or tune
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the act of measuring; measurement
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archaic a dance
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printing the width of a page or column of type
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as an extra precaution or beyond requirements
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to assess the nature, character, quality, etc, of someone
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(of clothes) made to fit an individual purchaser
verb
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to determine the size, amount, etc, of by measurement
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(intr) to make a measurement or measurements
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(tr) to estimate or determine
I measured his strength to be greater than mine
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(tr) to function as a measurement of
the ohm measures electrical resistance
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(tr) to bring into competition or conflict
he measured his strength against that of his opponent
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(intr) to be as specified in extent, amount, etc
the room measures six feet
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(tr) to travel or move over as if measuring
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(tr) to adjust or choose
he measured his approach to suit the character of his client
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(intr) to allow or yield to measurement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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measurernoun
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mismeasureverb
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intermeasureverb (used with object)
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outmeasureverb (used with object)
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premeasureverb (used with object)
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remeasureverb (used with object)
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undermeasureverb (used with object)
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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measuresimple
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measuressimple
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have measuredperfect
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has measuredperfect
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am measuringprogressive
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are measuringprogressive
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is measuringprogressive
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have been measuringperfect progressive
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has been measuringperfect progressive
Past
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measuredsimple
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had measuredperfect
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was measuringprogressive
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were measuringprogressive
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had been measuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of measure
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mesure, from Middle French, from Latin mēnsūra, equivalent to mēns(us), past participle of mētīrī “to measure, mete” + -ūra -ure
Explanation
To measure something is to figure out how much of it is there. A measure can also be a step toward a goal: take measures to ensure you don't flunk an exam by cracking the books. You can take measures to improve your health: limit sweets, get enough rest, get some exercise, and wash your hands to avoid the spread of germs. The noun also means a standard for comparison. You can measure your time against the good you will do if you volunteer to help out a child via a mentoring program.
Vocabulary lists containing measure
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Music - Introductory
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
However, this is predominantly where there is a risk of flooding not as a drought-prevention measure - and there is no legal requirement to have them.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Wall Street worked itself into a lather over the idea that the Fed could adopt a more forgiving inflation measure than the personal-consumption-expenditure index the central bank tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
To locate dark matter, scientists measure how its gravity bends the light from galaxies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
"When we measure the gravitational acceleration over the rock glacier, we see a larger decrease in that gravitational acceleration as we make measurements over areas with thicker ice."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
A canon requires students to echo back a pattern, but one measure later.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Other measures include limiting exports of oil products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The coroner acknowledged that Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, had since introduced measures to improve the audibility of alarms and lines of sight to cots on the unit.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
But Kosovo's National Institute of Public Health said in April that "urgent measures" were still needed to curb pollution from thermal power plants.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The metric measures the moisture content in the air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The president was again in France for a peace conference, but he took time out to cable a message to the new Congress encouraging support of the suffrage amendment, among other measures.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Despite the widespread detection of mycotoxins, the levels measured in the UK products remained below recommended EU guideline levels.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
The index is measured using inputs including a basket of about 100 high-yield corporate credit default swaps, G10 foreign exchange volatility and S&P 500 commodity trading-advisor positioning.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Animals at London Zoo are being checked and measured as part of its annual weigh-in day to monitor their health and wellbeing.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Many of these lawsuits engage vastly different opinions on the health impacts of mold, how it should be measured and what is required to remove it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
On Sunday, April 13, three miles from the mountain’s summit at the Timberline observation station, Swanson peered through a theodolite, an instrument that measured angles very accurately.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
FrameWorks researchers have been measuring Americans’ moods on economic mobility since 2020.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
The issue of measuring AI’s ROI has been a persistent challenge for IT leaders, even nearly four years into the AI boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
He recommends deciding exactly what you want to achieve, measuring the space and buying everything you need before you start.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
"We are measuring it with a completely new tool for this type of galaxy, demonstrating that this method also works beyond our own galaxy."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Other than his initial ice-axe-and-soup-ladle science, Don Swanson’s job was geodetic monitoring, which meant very accurately measuring and analyzing the size and shape of the earth.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
