Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - measure

(measures, measuring, measured) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you measure the quality, value, or effect of something, you discover or judge how great it is. I continued to measure his progress against the charts in the doctor’s office... It was difficult to measure the precise impact of the labor action. VERB: V n prep, V n 2. If you measure a quantity that can be expressed in numbers, such as the length of something, you discover it using a particular instrument or device, for example a ruler. Measure the length and width of the gap... VERB: V n 3. If something measures a particular length, width, or amount, that is its size or intensity, expressed in numbers. The house is more than twenty metres long and measures six metres in width... = be VERB: no cont, V amount 4. A measure of a particular quality, feeling, or activity is a fairly large amount of it. (FORMAL) The colonies were claiming a larger measure of self-government. N-SING: N of n 5. If you say that one aspect of a situation is a measure of that situation, you mean that it shows that the situation is very serious or has developed to a very great extent. That is a measure of how bad things have become at the bank. N-SING: N of n/wh 6. When someone, usually a government or other authority, takes measures to do something, they carry out particular actions in order to achieve a particular result. (FORMAL) The government warned that police would take tougher measures to contain the trouble... N-COUNT: oft N to-inf, N against n 7. A measure of a strong alcoholic drink such as brandy or whisky is an amount of it in a glass. In pubs and bars, a measure is an official standard amount. He poured himself another generous measure of malt. N-COUNT: usu N of n 8. In music, a measure is one of the several short parts of the same length into which a piece of music is divided. (AM; in BRIT, use bar) N-COUNT 9. see also measured, measuring, counter-measure, half measure, tape measure 10. If you say that something has changed or that it has affected you beyond measure, you are emphasizing that it has done this to a great extent. Mankind’s knowledge of the universe has increased beyond measure... PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis 11. If you say that something is done for good measure, you mean that it is done in addition to a number of other things.; If you get or take the measure of someone or something, you discover what they are like, so that you are able to control them or deal with them. If you have the measure of someone or something, you have succeeded in doing this. I repeated my question for good measure... The governments of the industrialized world had failed to get the measure of the crisis... Lili was the only person I knew who had the measure of her brother. PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl; PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 12. If something is true in some measure or in large measure, it is partly or mostly true. (FORMAL) Power is in some measure an act of will... PHRASE: PHR with cl