Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

Jacob's staff

Syllabification: (Ja·cob's staff)
Definition of Jacob's staff

noun

  • a rod with a sliding cursor formerly used for measuring distances and heights, especially in navigation.

Origin:

mid 16th century (denoting a pilgrim's staff): alluding to St. James (Jacobus in ecclesiastical Latin), whose symbols are a pilgrim's staff and a scallop shell

Jacob's staff in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of Jacob's staff in the British & World English dictionary
  |  Cite

Word of the day

secretagogue

/ siˈkrētəˌgôg /
noun
a substance that promotes secretion …