mason's level
- noun
- /ˈmeɪsənz ˈlɛvəl/
- Specialized
:
nivel de albañil
- She bought a new mason's level for her masonry class to help build straighter walls.
Examples
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A mason's level ensures that long stretches of stonework are perfectly horizontal.
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The bricklayer checked the alignment of the wall with a mason's level before laying the next row of bricks.
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The mason's level is essential for ensuring straight walls.
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He used a mason's level to check the floor's alignment.
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To ensure the wall is perfectly straight, the mason carefully checked it with his mason's level.
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The builder used a mason's level to guarantee that the stone foundation was truly horizontal.
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Before finishing the tile installation, she verified the surface's levelness with a mason's level.
Synonyms
1
4.1
A tool with a closed tube and a bubble to check if surfaces like a shelf are flat or upright
1
3.7
A long straight tool with a small bubble that shows if a surface is flat or upright
A tool with a hanging string and a bubble level to check vertical or horizontal lines
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
mason's + level
The phrase is a straightforward possessive composition: 'mason's' (belonging to a mason) + 'level' (a bubble tool for checking horizontality), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it is a type of spirit level used by masons. Although the precise nuance that it is longer than a carpenter's level is a specialized detail, the core meaning (a level used by masons to check horizontality) is transparently derivable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun mason's level is a long level used by a mason, a worker who builds with bricks or stone, to check that a wall or floor is perfectly flat. Imagine a mason laying the long tool with a small bubble of liquid along a wall; when the bubble sits in the middle the surface is 'horizontal', so the name means the long level masons use to make sure walls and floors are 'straight'.