measure

1 an action planned or taken to achieve a desired result such new security measures as metal detectors at all the entrances Synonyms expedient, means, move, shift, step Related Words act, action, deed, doing, feat, thing; course, procedure, proceeding, process; accomplishment, achievement, attainment, coup, exploit, success, triumph; activity, affair, business, dealing, enterprise, event; attempt, crack, endeavor, essay, fling, go, initiative, operation, pass, shot, stab, trial, try, undertaking, whack; effort, exertion, labor, pains, trouble, while, work; project, proposal, proposition; makeshift, resort, resource, stopgap; countermeasure, countermove, counterstep

2 a given or particular mass or aggregate of matter each day prisoners were given only a small measure of rice to live on Synonyms amount, quantity, quantum, volumeRelated Words coefficient, degree; body, portion; many, number

3 something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared during the Renaissance, man came to be viewed as the measure of all things Synonyms bar, barometer, benchmark, criterion, gold standard, grade, mark, standard, metric, par, touchstone, yardstickRelated Words case, example, instance; average, norm, rule; acme, apex, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, zenithNear Antonyms aberration, abnormality, deviation

4 the recurrent pattern formed by a series of sounds having a regular rise and fall in intensity the song's soft, soothing measures make it a good lullaby Synonyms beat, cadence, rhythm, meterRelated Words accent, accentuation, emphasis, stress; backbeat; drum, throb; lilt, movement, sway, swing; hexameter, pentameter, tetrameter, trimeter

5 the total amount of measurable space or surface occupied by something a slipcover for the couch that was made to measure Synonyms bulk, dimension, extent, magnitude, size, measurement, proportionRelated Words area; capaciousness, commodiousness, roominess, spaciousness; ampleness, amplitude, bigness, bulkiness, enormousness, grandness, greatness, grossness, heftiness, hugeness, immenseness, immensity, largeness, mass, massiveness, monstrousness, stupendousness, tremendousness, vastness, volume, voluminousness

1 to find out the size, extent, or amount of for this experiment, you need to carefully measure all the chemicals before you mix them together Synonyms gauge (also gage), scale, span Related Words weigh; calibrate, caliper; quantify, quantitate; lay off, mark (off); calculate, cipher, compute, figure, reckon, work out; appraise, assess, conjecture, estimate, evaluate, guess, guesstimate, judge, suppose, valuate, value; add up, sum, tally, total; ascertain, determine, discover, dope (out), figure out, find out

2 to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression) he carefully measured his response to the provocative question Synonyms bridle, check, constrain, contain, curb, govern, hold, inhibit, keep, control, pull in, regulate, rein (in), restrain, rule, tameRelated Words bottle (up), choke (back), hold back, mince, muffle, pocket, repress, sink, smother, squelch, stifle, strangle, suppress, swallow; arrest, interrupt, stop; block, hamper, handcuff, hinder, impede, obstruct; gag, muzzle, silenceNear Antonyms liberate, loose, loosen, unleash; air, express, take out, ventAntonyms lose