ferule

¹ American  

[fer-uhl, -ool] / ˈfɛr əl, -ul /

noun

1. Also a rod, cane, or flat piece of wood for punishing children, especially by striking them on the hand.

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verb (used with object)

feruled, feruling

1. to punish with a ferule.

ferule ² American  

[fer-uhl, -ool] / ˈfɛr əl, -ul /

noun

feruled, feruling

1. ferrule.

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ferule ¹ British  

/ -rəl, ˈfɛruːl /

noun

1. a flat piece of wood, such as a ruler, used in some schools to cane children on the hand

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verb

1. rare (tr) to punish with a ferule

ferule ² British  

/ ˈfɛruːl, -rəl /

noun

1. a variant spelling of ferrule

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Etymology

Origin of ferule

1375–1425; late Middle English ferula, ferul ( e ) giant fennel < Latin ferula schoolmaster's rod (literally, stalk of giant fennel); replacing Old English ferele < Latin

Example Sentences

A kind of miracle happened: the ferule of the teacher became the poet's magic wand.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yen picked up his ferule and hit it like a student.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

If he should curve his elbow in the least, it would get a rap from the master's ferule.

From Little Grandmother by May, Sophie

He handled a ferule while the Miserere lasted, although he did not, on account of the entreaties of those who were present, strike the capitulars with it.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Volume XXXIX: 1683-1690 by Blair, Emma Helen

People said the steel ferule of the umbrella had attracted the electric current.

From My Little Sister by Robins, Elizabeth

Related Words

• berate
• castigate
• censure
• flog
• lash
• punish
• upbraid