yardsticks

plural of yardstick
as in standards
something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared this essay will be the yardstick by which I grade the others

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of yardsticks Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, is following his own yardsticks, and said that the sanguine performance this summer of the S & P 500, which is near all-time highs, has masked a high degree of individual stock volatility. — Sarah Min, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026 Warsh is also garnering criticism for seemingly suggesting that familiar yardsticks are moving. — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026 And according to my scorecard, which averaged grades across five economic yardsticks, Powell’s eight years at the helm earned the second-worst California-centric score compared with the previous four central bank bosses. — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 15 May 2026 Other yardsticks show a similar trend, such as a March 18 survey commissioned by the California Democratic Party showing the two GOP candidates on top with Swalwell, Porter and Steyer in a three-way tie for third. — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026 The Red Scare period of blacklisting is a case study of the dangers of using political yardsticks to measure journalists. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026 It is flanked on all sides by footlong rulers (emblazoned, like the yardsticks, with an assortment of penitent phrases including YES, SISTER and NO, SISTER) marking the hours. — Alex Jovanovich, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026 In the matter of handmade placards—Magic Marker on cardboard, duct-taped to wooden yardsticks—there was a certain amount of politico-literary one-upmanship. — Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025 The machine learning field is moving fast, and the yardsticks used measure progress in it are having to race to keep up. — Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yardsticks
Noun
  • Brand standards ensure spectacular services and top notch amenities and comfort.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Residents will have a chance to weigh in Saturday during a community meeting for the downtown Lincoln master plan and its objective design and development standards.
    — Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Under the order, GovOps would be required to create third-party safety criteria for AI developers by May 2027 and implement them by December 2027.
    — Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Someone can meet criteria for severe AUD at age 21, and then, with treatments, brain maturation, lifestyle changes and/or years of abstinence, be diagnosis-free at age 40.
    — Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • In multi-core CPU benchmarks, the M6’s performance is roughly 20 percent faster than the M5.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Our industry can lose sight of that because wealth management firms are very good at measuring things, like returns, benchmarks and expense ratios.
    — Brian Duggan, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Each city was graded on a score out of 100, with points based on metrics such as average spending on coffee, number of coffee drinkers per household, and number of affordable coffee shops.
    — Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • There are a lot of ways to slice the metrics on just how dependent the US economy has become on AI (and AI-adjacent) spending.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Yardsticks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yardsticks. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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