ferule

Definitions

A ruler-shaped instrument, generally used to slap naughty children on the hand.

historical

Equivalents

Examples

“In his hand he swayed a ferule, that sceptre of despotic power; the birch of justice reposed on three nails behind the throne, a constant terror to evil doers, […].”

“He [a midshipman] lords it over those below him, while lorded over himself by his superiors. It is as if with one hand a school-boy snapped his fingers at a dog, and at the same time received upon the other the discipline of the usher's ferule.”

“The master, who stood at the end⟳ of the room, with a huge ferule under his arm, bent full upon me a look⟳ of stern appeal; […]”

“The schoolmaster, always severe, grew severer and more exacting than ever, for he wanted the school to make⟳ a good showing on "Examination" day. His rod and his ferule were seldom idle now—at least among the smaller pupils.”

“It is to keep⟳ a man awake⟳, to keep⟳ him alive to his own⟳ soul and its fixed design⟳ of righteousness, that the better part of moral and religious education is directed; not only that of words and doctors, but the sharp ferule of calamity under which we are all God’s scholars till we die⟳.”

CEFR level