Ferule
Origin
Latin ferula.
Full definition of ferule
Noun
ferule
(plural ferules)- A ruler-shaped instrument, generally used to slap naughty children on the hand.
- 1850, Melville, White-Jacket,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.
- 1851, George Borrow, Lavengro,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; ...
- 1876, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer,His rod and his ferule were seldom idle now -- at least among the smaller pupils.
Verb
- (transitive) To punish with a ferule.I could cudgel a great lubberly delinquent of a boy ... but when it came to feruling a girl, ... my manhood rebelled. — William S. Woodbridge.