spirit level
1
4.1
- noun
- /ˈspɪrɪt ˈlɛvəl/
- UK
:
nivel de burbuja
- On the spirit level, the victory is complete.
- Use a spirit level
Examples
-
Well, floors level and the spirit level is level on here, but yet that's level.
-
Caught: the bubble in the spirit level, a creature divided; and the compass needle wobbling and wavering, undecided.
Blog text (29) -
To demonstrate, I put my spirit level on the floor in front of Jeeves.
Blog text (13) -
The drawing board swivels on its tripod, the spirit level guides my position.
Fiction book (1999) -
This tripod contains a built-in spirit level and a scale for vertical alignment of the head.
Academic text (1996) -
There's a bang as I drop the spirit level on the floor, and Jeeves twitches instinctively.
Blog text (13) -
She practiced for hours with a spirit level strapped to her wrist, rehearsing the fluid movement my people perform automatically.
Fiction book (1999) -
There were pictures cut from books and newspapers hanging on the walls, but some were hung parallel to the cocked-up floor, while others were hung to a more abstract line that might have been arrived at with a spirit level.
Fiction book (1997) -
Something else he hasn't told Clara is this: Before leaving Srinagar, in a shop he entered meaning only to buy a new spirit level, he made an uncharacteristically impulsive purchase.
Fiction book (1999) -
Make sure to use the spirit level to check if the shelf is perfectly horizontal before securing it to the wall.
Synonyms
145
3.2
A tool with a tube of liquid and a bubble to check if something is flat
1
3.7
A long straight tool with a small bubble that shows if a surface is flat or upright
1
2.9
A tool that uses water in a clear tube to show surface height
A long tool with a bubble that masons use to check that walls and floors are flat
A hand tool that measures the angle or slope of land
Antonyms
How Accurate
- UK
1
4.1
1
5.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
spirit + level
This is a noun–noun compound where the overall meaning is a subtype of 'level' (a measuring tool) and 'spirit' indicates the liquid inside (historically alcohol). The combination is compositionally transparent — a "spirit level" is simply a level that contains spirit — so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the device's function.
Etymology
Spirit level comes from the small glass tube inside the tool that is filled with a clear alcohol called spirit, with an air bubble that moves to show if a surface is straight. That's why it means 'a tool to check if a surface is level'.