Definition of "foot-rule" [foot-rule]

• A rule or measure 12 inches long; a rule for taking measurements in feet and inches. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Those who set about criticisizing poetry with a foot-rule, or a set of proportions and qualities which they think every poem ought to exhibit, end up making themselves ridiculous."
• "Frau Lenore was alarmed, and the foot-rule slipped out of her hands."
• "Frau Lenore was stooping down, measuring with a big folding foot-rule the space between the windows."