Definition of "ferule" [fer•ule]

• An instrument, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children. (noun)
• To punish with a ferule. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A ferule was a sort of flat ruler, widened at the inflicting end into a shape resembling a pear, -- but nothing like so sweet, -- with a delectable hole in the middle to raise blisters, like a cupping-glass."
• "The addition of a ferule was the next step; and the omission of the tang, and amalgamation of the ferule with the blade, gave rise to the socketed spear-head."
• "The ferule was a name given both to the bamboo and to the yellow cane, which grew plentifully both in the islands of the Greek Archipelago and in"