First recorded in 1775–85
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At war's beginning, Puleston laid aside his brushes and went back to the drawing board with a T square.
From Time Magazine Archive
And out on the Margaritaville scene, the military was the only presence with the posture of a T square.
From Time Magazine Archive
We’ll each make a flying craft/object/thing out of clay, and then we’ll have a contest to see whose flings the farthest across the room off of a big metal T square mounted to his desk.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
In his model the double parallel ruler is replaced by two endless strings and pulleys, and the bar, B C, by a T square.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 794, March 21, 1891 by Various
She has a forehead so low it rests upon her eyebrows, which, by the way, have been ruled straight across the immeasurable breadth of it with a T square.
From Only an Incident by Litchfield, Grace Denio
This was before computer graphics or computer modeling, when architects and engineers worked on a drafting table with a T-square and slide rule.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 25, 2021
The Slide’s simple operation and high-tech sheen are a pleasing combination for anyone accustomed to drafting with the assistance of a humble T-square.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2014
His working tools — backpack, easel, paints, brushes, folding stool, T-square, huge umbrella — are also on display, making vivid all the gear he lugged with him.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2012
Modern industrial design has ceased its T-square solemnity and turned capricious.
From Time Magazine Archive
I preferred to ignore the world around me, obsessing only over what was in front of me: my T-square, my X-acto knife, my blue pencil.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
