tape measure

The sick-berth steward then proceeded to put a tape-measure round his body, just under the armpits, compassing his chest.

There's a good compass in the pilot-house, an' with it an' your tape-measure we'll be able to lay out the course to a hair.

Augustus Meredith, no less than George, blushed for the tape-measure daily.

He saw the great London road like a tape-measure unfolded from the gilded case that was London.