ferule
- noun
- /ˈfɛrəl/
- NSFW
:
ferula
- In the past, teachers often used a ferule to discipline misbehaving students.
Examples
-
I think I'm going to turn said ferule out of some stainless if I have it 'cause I think that'd be nifty at the end of this.
-
In the nineteenth century, designers added the "ferule," a band of metal at the pen's lower end, textured to ensure a firmer grip.
Academic text (2007) -
At a few minutes after ten, he passed, in no hurry, tipping his Panama hat to ladies, his cane's ferule striking the sidewalk every third step.
Fiction book (1993) -
Ferule adaptations eventually reflected a detailed study of the mechanics of the human hand, with shaped handles conforming to the index finger and thumb's natural soft spots.
Academic text (2007) -
The ferule was a wooden stick that children dreaded because it was associated with punishment.
-
He took the old ferule from the shelf, a relic of a strict upbringing that reminded him of his childhood.
Synonyms
29
7.7
A long thin stick used to punish someone at school
14
7.9
A flat wooden board used to hit someone as punishment
5
8.9
A short thick stick that people use as a weapon
5
8.9
A thin flexible stick used to hit someone as punishment
1
9.9
A bundle of thin twigs used to beat someone as punishment
A tall plant with thick stems or a thin rod used for punishment in schools
A bundle of thin birch twigs used to hit someone as punishment
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ferule comes from the old Latin word ferula, which meant 'rod' or 'stem'. Because a ferule was a thin stick teachers used, the word now means a flat piece of wood or cane once used to punish or to get attention.