Forms: 1 ʓyrd, ʓerd, (ierd), 1–2 ʓird, 3–6 ʓerd(e, yerd(e, 4–5 ʓarde, 4–7 yarde, (3 ȝerrde, ȝeord, yeorde, yherde, 4 ȝierd(e, ȝeird, yeird, ȝeerde, ȝurde, 5 ȝearde, ȝherde, yeerde, yerede, 6 yerdde), 5–7 yeard(e, (9 Sc. yaird), 5– yard. [OE. *ʓierd, ʓyrd, ʓird, Angl. ʓerd = OFris. ierde (EFris. jæd), OS. -gerda (in segalgerda SAILYARD), MLG. gerde, MDu. gherde, garde, Du. garde, gard, OHG. *gartja, gardea, gerta, MHG., G. gerte, generally taken to represent OTeut. *gazdjō, deriv. of *gazdaz (whence OE. ʓeard ?, MLG. gaert, OHG. gart, ON. gaddr GAD sb.1, Goth. gazds prickle), prob. related to L. hasta (:—*ghazdhā) spear, OIr. gat rod.
Some, however, regard the r in this word as original and connect it with OSl. žrŭdī, Russ. жердь thin pole.]
† 1. A straight slender shoot or branch of a tree; a twig, stick. Obs.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xi. 7. Ʒerd … from uinde styrende [arundinem uento agitatum].
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 8. Seo driʓe ʓyrd, þe næs on eorðan aplantod,… and swa-ðeah greow.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 510. A gret ok he wolde braide adoun as it a smal ȝerd were.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., III. met. ii. (1868), 68. Þe ȝerde of a tree þat is haled adoun by myȝty strengþe bowiþ redely þe croppe adoun.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 5614 (Trin.). A cofur of ȝerdes dud she be wrouȝt.
c. 1425. Engl. Conq. Irel., 30. Thay arered a dyche, & a feble castel vpon, of yardes and turues.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 221. A branche of palme of paradyse of þe wheche þe ȝearde was grene as gresse.
† b. fig. in reference to Isaiah xi. 1: cf. ROD sb.1 1 b. Obs.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 217. An ȝerd sal spruten of iesse more.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 57/169. Heil þou ȝerde of Iesse.
a. 1400. Leg. Rood (1871), 212. Þou seydest a ȝerd schulde sprynge Oute of þe rote of Ientill Iesse.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, II. 172.
† c. In reference to taking or surrendering land, esp. in phr. by the yard (law-Fr. per le virge): see quots. and cf. ROB sb.1 1 c. Obs.
1523. Fitzherb., Surv., 13 b. There be other tenantes by copy of court role, and is called tenauntes per le virge .s. by the yerde. And they be called so bycause whan they wolde surrendre their tenementes in to the lordes handes to the vse of another, they shall haue a lytell yerde in his hande by custome of the courte, and that he shall delyuer vnto the stewarde.
1559. Bk. Presidentes, 48 b. How the copy should be made of landes holden by the yarde.
† d. Used typically of a thing of no value.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 9660. He ȝeues of hem not a ȝerd.
† 2. A staff or stick carried in the hand as a walking-stick, or by a shepherd or herdsman. Obs.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. x. 10. Næbbe ʓe gold … ne codd on weʓe ne twa tunecan ne ʓe-scy ne ʓyrde [Lindisf. ʓerd; Rushw. ierde].
c. 1000. Ælfric, Num. xvii. 10. Ber Aarones ʓirde in to þam ʓetelde.
c. 1250. Gen. & Exod., 2987. He smot wið ðat ȝerde on ðe lond.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5894. Þan tok aaron þis ilk yeird, And on þe flore he kest it don.
a. 1400. Leg. Rood (1871), 141. Þe heerdes ȝerde.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour, lxxv. The yerde wherewith Moyses departed the see.
1538. Bale, Thre Lawes (facs.), B v. For horse take Moyses yearde, There is no better charme.
† b. (Also Golden Yard; cf. yard-band in sense 12, and ell-wand.) The Belt of Orion. Obs.
1551. [see GOLDEN a. 10].
1651. Loves of Hero & Leander (1653), 23. The Yard, Orion, and Charles Wain.
† 3. A stick or rod used as an instrument for administering strokes by way of punishment or otherwise. Obs.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 290. Ʒenim ane ʓirde, sleah on þæt bæc þonne biþ þæt hors hal.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 243. Þu ahst to habben … Stede and twei sporen and ane smearte ȝerd.
c. 1205. Lay., 20318. Ofte me hine smæt mid smærte ȝerden [c. 1275 ȝerdes].
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 451, in O. E. Misc., 130. Þe mon þe spareþ yeorde and yonge childe.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 777. Hit [sc. a horse] … þoleþ boþe ȝerd & spure.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, II. 1427. Tristith wele that I Wole be her champioun with spore and yerd.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 537. Ȝif þi child be not a-fert, Ȝir him i-nouh of þe ȝerd.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas (1554), Prol. xxviii. His yard of castigacion.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 40. He made hys confessour bete hym wyth a ȝarde apon þe backe al bare, as a chyld ys beten yn scole.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacion (1888), 5. The payens bett him with scourgis & with scharp ȝerds eke.
† b. fig. A means or instrument of punishment; hence, punishment, chastisement. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 184. Þench ȝet þet hwose euer hermeð þe,… þench þet he is Godes ȝerd, & tet God bet þe mid him. Ibid., 324. Ase ofte ase þe hund of helle keccheð ei god from þe, smit him anonriht mid te ȝerde of tunge schrifte.
1389. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 95. Qwo-so make any noyse … and þe den comaunde him to ben stille, and he ne wil nouth, scal taken him þe ȝerde.
c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle, I. xxii. (1859), 24. Tretyng with yerd of loue, and discipline.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., IV. ii. 424. He thretened hem that he wolde come to hem in ȝerde, that is to seie, in peyne.
c. 1530. Crt. Love, 363. I shall … meekly take her chastisement and yerd.
† 4. A wand, rod, or staff carried as a symbol of office, authority, etc.; hence in fig. phr. under the yard, under (the) rule or discipline (of). Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 22480. He bar on his honde ænne mucle ȝeord of golde.
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 382, in O. E. Misc., 48. Seþþe hi nomen a red cloþ and duden him a-bute And one yerd on his hond.
13[?]. Seuyn Sag. (W.), 142. Dioclician the maistres herde, He strok his berd, and schok his yerde.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Clerk’s Prol., 22. Hoost quod he I am vnder youre yerde Ye han of vs as now the gouernance.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 813. Þen was him geuyn vp þe ȝerde & ȝolden þe rewme.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 537/2. Ȝerde, borne a-forne a worthyman.
c. 1470. Harding, Chron., CCXXII. iv. Compleyntes … Refourmed were well vnder his yerd egall.
5. Naut. A wooden (or steel) spar, comparatively long and slender, slung at its center from, and forward of, a mast and serving to support and extend a square sail which is bent to it.
(See also JACKYARD, MIZEN-YARD, SAILYARD, TOPGALLANT-yard.)
c. 725–c. 1440. [see SAILYARD 1].
1336–7. [see YARD-ROPE].
1465. Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 199. My mastyr paid for the yerde [of the said ship].
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., XLI. xvii. At last with striuing, yard and all was torne, And part therof into the sea was borne.
1624. Capt. J. Smith, Virginia, III. xii. 90. Some [ships] lost their Masts, some their Sayles blowne from their Yards.
1633. T. James, Voy., 19. We put abroad all the sayle that was at yards.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 21. The Sails were almost always splitting and blowing from the Yards.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. xii. Fain to strike the galley’s yard, And take them to the oar.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., i. Fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships.
1868. Morris, Earthly Par., Prol. (1870), I. 26. We saw the yards swing creaking round the mast.
† 6. A straight rod or bar used in various connections (see quots.). Obs.
a. 1490. Botoner, Itin. (1778), 260. The yerdys called sparres of the halle ryalle.
1538. Elyot, Radius,… a rodde or yerde, that Geometricians haue to describe lynes.
1594. Blundevil, Exerc., Navig., xii. (1597), 322 b. In vsing M. Hoods staffe they shall … need … onely to marke vpon what degree of the yarde the shadow of the Vane streeketh.
† 7. A measuring-rod; spec. a measuring-rod or -stick of the length of three feet; a yard-measure.
See also CLOTH-YARD, ell-yard (ELL1 5), METEYARD (OE. meteʓyrd), tailor’s yard (TAILOR sb. 6 b).
c. 1000–1050. Instit. Pol., xii. [vii.] (Liebermann 478). And riht is, þæt ne beo æniʓ meteʓyrd [Quadripartitus mensuralis uirga] lengre þonne oðer.
c. 1430. Met yerde [see METEYARD].
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 537/2. Ȝerde, metwande, ulna.
1557. North, trans. Gueuara’s Diall Princes, Gen. Prol. A ij. By the yarde the marchaunte measureth al his war.
1656. Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Advts. fr. Parnass., I. x. (1674), 13. He had a very just yard at home.
a. 1658. Cleveland, London Lady, 81. The Heroes of the Yard have shut Their Shops.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. v. If they offered to come into the warehouse, then strait went the yard slap over their noddle.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 116, ¶ 7. I was … bound to a haberdasher…. I learned in a few weeks to handle a yard with great dexterity.
8. A unit of linear measure equal to 161/2 feet or 51/2 yards (but varying locally); a rod, pole, or perch. Now local.
Sometimes spec. distinguished as land-yard.
900. in Earle, Land-Charters (1888), 351. xvi. ʓyrda gauoltininga.
901–9. in Thorpe, Dipl. Angl. Ævi Sax. (1865), 156. Ðæs landes be suðan ðære cirican … xxiiii. ʓerda on lange & on bræde ðar hit bradest is fif ʓurda, & ðær hit unbradost is anne ʓeurde.
11[?]. Textus Roffensis, in Birch, Cart. Sax., III. 659. To wercene þa land peran & þreo ʓyrda to þillianæ [L. tres virgatas plancas ponere].
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 1449. Her vnder is a ȝerde depe A water.
1828. [see landyard, LAND sb. 12].
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, s.v., As a linear measure, the yard varies considerably in different parts of the kingdom; at Hertford the land-yard is 3 feet; at Saltash, 161/2 feet; at Falmouth and Bridgend 18 feet; and at Downpatrick, 21 feet.
1886. Elworthy, W. Som. Word-bk., Yard, a measure of five and a half yards (161/2) feet) both long and square, i.e. the same as a rod, pole, or perch.
9. A measure of length (the standard unit of English long measure) equal to three feet or thirty-six inches. (See quot. 1867.) Also the corresponding measure of area (square yard = 9 square feet) or of solidity (cubic yard = 27 cubic feet).
The earlier standard was the ell = 45 inches (ulna in Stat. de Pistoribus, 13th cent.); this was succeeded by the verge (1353 Act 27 Edw. III., stat. 2, c. 10), of which yard is the English equivalent.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. V. 214. Thanne drowe I me amonges draperes my donet to lerne,… Amonge þe riche rayes I rendred a lessoun, To broche hem with a pak-nedle…. And put hem in a presse and pynned hem þerinne, Tyl ten ȝerdes or twelue hadde tolled out threttene.
1426–7. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 64. For v ȝerdis and a half of grene bokeram iij s. iij d. Ibid. (1496–7), 32. An Awlter cloth … conteynyng in lengthe iij yardes di.
1518. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 152. A gowne of vi brode yardes at vjt the yard xxxvjs.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., I. iii. 46. I am in the waste two yards about.
1617. J. Taylor (Water P.), Three Weekes Obseru., E 4 b. I bought … a yard and halfe of pudding for fiue pence.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 78. One hundred of Lathes will cover six yards of seeling, and lathing is worth six pence the yard.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Painting (1786), IV. 43. Sir James could obtain but 40s. a yard square for the cupola of St. Paul’s.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, vii. Sir Cook, let me have half a yard or so of broiled beef.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Seven-Dials. When penny magazines shall have superseded penny yards of song. Ibid. (1848), Dombey, xxxv. Mrs. Perch … has made the tour of the establishment, and priced the silks and damasks by the yard.
1867. Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., I. I. § 407. The British standard of length is the Imperial Yard, defined as the distance between two marks on a certain metallic bar, preserved in the Tower of London, when the whole has a temperature of 60° Fahrenheit.
1896. Law Times Rep., LXXIII. 615/1. The railway line … was perfectly straight for a distance of over 700 yards.
fig. 1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut. iv. 27–31. We imagine God to be lyke our selues, & we measure him by our owne yard.
1598. Bacon, Office of Alienations, Wks. 1730, III. 557–8. A peer of the realm, a counsellour of state, a judge of the land,… are not … to be measured by the common yard, but by the pole of special grace and dispensation.
b. Vaguely, hyperbolically, or fig.; phr. by the yard, at great length, without end.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 192. Hir yelow heer was broyded in a tresse Bihynde hir bak a yerde long.
1842. Tennyson, Godiva, 19. His beard a foot before him, and his hair A yard behind.
1843. Southey, Comm.-pl. Bk., Ser. II. (1849), 209. Latinisims,—yard-and-half-long words.
1853. ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, I. viii. Spit us out a yard or two more, Gig-lamps.
1869. ‘Wat Bradwood,’ The O. V. H., v. He … could talk by the yard of what little he did know.
1881. H. James, Portrait of Lady, xlii. He had a face a yard long: I wondered what ailed him.
1900. Elinor Glyn, Visits Elizabeth (1906), 117. I danced it with some idiot who almost at once let yards and yards of my gauze frills get torn.
c. Phr. Yard of ale, etc., a deep slender glass for liquor, or the amount of liquor contained in it. Yard of clay (clay yard), a long clay tobacco-pipe. Yard of satin (slang), a glass of gin (see SATIN sb. 4). Yard of tin, a coachman’s horn.
[1828. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom & Jerry, III. vi. Log. The haberdasher is … the spirit-merchant,… and tape the commodity he deals in … white is Max, and red is Cognac. Jerry. Then give me a yard and a half of red.]
1842. Punch, II. 23/2. His Highness condescendingly indulged in a pot of half-and-half and a yard of clay at the ‘Last Dive.’
1866. Lond. Misc., 19 May, 235/2. The stolidity of a mynheer smoking his clay yard.
1872. N. & Q., 4th Ser. X. 49. At the annual Vinis, or feast, of the mock corporation of Hanley (Staffordshire), the initiation of each member, in 1783, consisted in his swearing fealty to the body, and drinking a yard of wine—i. e., a pint of port or sherry out of a glass one yard in length. Ibid. (1899), 9th Ser. III. 97/1. The (disused and probably illegal) ‘yard’ of ale. This is a measure a yard long, holding, I should fancy, more than a pint.
1902. Tatler, 8 Jan., 52. A ‘Yard of Ale’ Glass. It is 38 in. high and contains two pints of ale.
1903. C. G. Harper, Stage-Coach & Mail, I. xii. 279. That instrument [sc. the key-bugle] came over from Germany in 1818, and for a time pretty thoroughly displaced the old ‘yard of tin’ the earlier guards had blown so lustily.
d. In Building: Yard of lime, mortar, stone, etc.: see quots.
1851. Laxton, Builder’s Price Bk., 9. 27 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard, contains 21 striked bushels, which is considered a single load. Ibid., 12. A rod of brickwork requires 11/2 cubic yard of chalk lime, and 3 single loads or yards of drift.
1881. Dict. Archit., VI. 84/2. A standard perch being taken as 21 ft. (or 161/2 ft.) long, 18 ins. high, and 12 ins. thick. This is about ‘a yard of stone,’ or a ton, or horse-load. Ibid. (1892), VIII. Yard of Lime; or load. In 1750 it was equal to 30 or 32 bushels.
10. a. In full yard of land (OE. ʓyrd landes = L. virgata terræ): An area of land of varying extent according to the locality, but most freq. 30 acres: commonly taken as = a fourth of a hide. See also YARDLAND.
688–95. Laws Ine, cxi. (Liebermann). Ʒif mon ʓeþingað ʓyrde landes [Quadripartitus uirgata terre] oþþe mare to rædeʓafole & ʓeereð, ʓif se hlaford him wile þæt land aræran to weorce & to ʓafole, ne þearf he him onfon, ʓif he him nan botl ne selð, & þolie þara æcra.
937. in Earle, Land-Charters (1888), 322. Þis synd þære anre ʓyrde landʓemæro æt æschyrste þe ʓebyrað into þære hyde æt toppeshamme.
978–992. Charter of Oswald, in Kemble, Cod. Dipl., III. 263. Landes sumne dæl ðæt syndon .iii. hida æt Bradingcotan and an ʓyrd æt Genenofre.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron., an. 1085 (Laud MS.). Swa swyðe nearwelice he hit lett ut aspyrian, þæt næs an ælpiʓ hide ne an ʓyrde landes … þæt næs ʓesæt on his ʓewrite.
14[?]. Tretyce, in W. of Henley’s Husb. (1890), 44. iiij acres makithe a yerde of londe and v yerdis makithe a hyde off lande.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 559. A Charter … confermyng to ser Iohn Trillawe … and to Edmond Mabaunke, v. mesis, viij. yerdis of lond.
1534. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 307. Seased … of and in a messe half a yard of land a closse called Grymes closse … in thyngden.
1567. in F. J. Baigent, Rec. Crondal (1891), 163. One yarde of customary lande,… graunted to and with the said messuage or messuages.
1618. Crt.-roll Gt. Waltham Manor. Ad tres rodas prati, parcellam de Alizaunder’s yardland,… et ad unam croftam terre … parcell, unius virgate terre vocat. Alisaunder’s yarde.
b. An area of land of the extent of a quarter of an acre, being, theoretically, a strip of land bounded by a ‘yard’ (sense 8) and a furlong, i.e., 51/2 × 220 yards; a rood.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 290. v. acris and a yerd of his arable lond.
1613. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. One acer of land and iij yeardes & viij pearches.
1726. in W. Wing, Ann. Steeple Aston (1875), 54. Fourth part of an acre of meadow ground, called a yerd.
1893. Mrs. B. Stapleton, Three Oxf. Parishes, 309. A yard is a fourth part of a lot…. An acre is a lot.
† 11. The virile member, penis; also = PHALLUS 1. (So L. virga.) Obs.
1379. Glouc. Cath. MS. 19, No. I, lib. 1, ca. 3. fo. 5. [The urine] passith out by the ȝerde.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xvii. 11. Ȝe shulen circumside the flehs of the ferthermore parti of ȝoure ȝeerde.
a. 1425. trans. Anderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc. 92. I haue oft tyme sene puluis grecus for to availe in þe cancre of a mannez ȝerde.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 676. Brag. I do adore thy sweet Graces slipper. Boy. Loues her by the foot. Dum. He may not by the yard.
1607. Markham, Caval., I. (1617), 23. You must haue care that your Stallyons yarde be all of one colour.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, VI. iv. 479. This yard, which they called Phallus, was vsually made of Figge-tree.
1693. Wood, Life (O.H.S.), III. 420. A monstrous child…. It hath three yards and he makes use of them all at once.
1748. trans. Vegetius Renatus’ Distemp. Horses, 87. His Yard drops Matter.
1884. J. Payne, Tales fr. Arabic, I. 30. Aboulhusn … abode naked, with his yard and his arse exposed.
transf. 1683. Snape, Anat. Horse, III. v. (1686), 114. It [sc. the pineal gland] is also called the Yard or Prick of the Brain … because it resembleth a Man’s Yard.
† b. = pintle-fish (see PINTLE 3). Obs.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s Improv., xviii. 174. Colybdænæ, Yards or shamefishes … Gesner … saith that the French men call this fish the Asses-prick, and Dr Wotton termeth it grosly the Pintle fish.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 232.
12. attrib. and Comb. as (sense 5) yard-mast, -tackle; (sense 9) yard-band, -glass, -length, -rule, -stick; yard-broad, -deep, -long, -square, -thick, -wide adjs.; (sense 11) yard-ball, -mattering, -syringe; yard-fallen adj.; yard-coal, yard-seam, a seam of coal a yard thick; † yard-fell, the foreskin; yard-work = YARDAGE2 1. Also YARD-ARM, -MEASURE, -ROPE, -WAND.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., Descr. *j. *Yard-bals or Bels hung ’twixt the flesh and skin.
1828. Craven Gloss., *Yerd-band, a rod of a yard in length. ‘The Ladies yerd-band,’ the belt of Orion.
1711. Act 10 Anne, c. 18 § 104. All such Callicoes … which shall be within One Eighth Part of a Yard of *Yard broad … shall pay as Yard broad.
1855. J. Phillips, Man. Geol., 188. *Yard coal. 3 feet.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., s.v., *Yard-fallen, a term … to express a malady to which horses are sometimes subject, which is the hanging down of the penis from its sheath…, the creature not being able to draw it up again.
1382. Wyclif, Jer. iv. 4. *Ȝerde felles.
1882. N. & Q., 6th Ser. V. 456/1. The expense of 7s. 6d. was not his main reason for the non-replacement of the absent *yard-glass.
1843. J. Ward, Borough Stoke-upon-Trent, 367. The drinking off a *yard-length-glass of ale at a single draught.
a. 1711. Ken, Edmund, Poet. Wks. II. 52. In Ewen Bows they *Yard long Arrows shot.
1798. in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1799), II. 276. A rope of yard-long words.
1822. Scott, Nigel, i. A nod of his yard-long visage.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer (1891), 171. A yard-long dog-fish was dropped into … the boat.
1579–80. North, Plutarch (1595), 1000. They sawe the threescore shippes of Cleopatra busie about their *yard-masts, and hoysing saile to flie.
1708. Kersey, *Yard-mattering, a Disiemper in Horses.
1862. Times, 21 Jan., 10/4. Strong active relays of pitmen and miners can soon clear the shaft from the *yard seam.
1799. in Spirit Publ. Jrnls., III. 388. Their *yard-square towels.
1828–32. Webster, *Yard-stick.
1844. Emerson, Lect., Yng. American, Wks. (Bohn), II. 293. It has great value as a sort of yard-stick, and surveyor’s line.
1878. M. J. Dee, in N. Amer. Rev., CXXVI. 507. Senator Thurman was content to measure the Bland Bill with the yard-stick of the constitutional lawyer.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Yard-stick, an ash walking-stick, 3 feet in length … which a manager or underviewer carries with him in the pit, with which he roughly measures any lengths of work done … and with which he chastises unruly lads.
1694. Salmon, Bate’s Dispens. (1715), 455/1. Make an Injection into the Yard, with a proper *Yard-Syringe.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Yard-tackles, tackles attached to the fore and main yards … whereby … the boats … are hoisted in and out.
1901. K. Stewart, By Allan Water, i. 1. *Yard-thick walls bear testimony to its own great age.
1766. W. Gordon, Gen. Counting-ho., 427. 1 piece *yard-wide quilt.
1832. Babbage, Econ. Manuf., xv. (ed. 3), 139. The practice, in retail linen-drapers’ shops, of calling certain articles yard-wide, when the real width is, perhaps, only seven-eighths or three-quarters.
1865. Brierley, Irkdale, I. 9. Newspapers in his ‘yardwide days,’ as he would term the period of his earliest acquaintance with manhood.
1893. Lady, 17 Aug., 173/2. The yard-wide tweed usually sold for trousers.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, *Yard Work,… synonymous with yardage.
