This word is acceptable for play in the US & UK dictionaries that are being used in the following games:

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n. A graduated measuring stick one yard in length.

n. A test or standard used in measurement, comparison, or judgment. See Synonyms at standard.

n. A measuring rod thirty-six inches long.

n. A standard to which other measurements or comparisons are judged.

n. A stick three feet, or a yard, in length, used as a measure of cloth, etc.

n. A stick or rod exactly 3 feet long, generally marked with subdivisions, as quarters and eighths of the yard on the one side, and inches, or perhaps feet and inches, on the other. See yard, n., 3, 4.

n.

n. Figuratively, a standard of measurement in general.

n. a ruler or tape that is three feet long

n. a measure or standard used for comparison

"I got involved because I think people shouldn't be denied access to opportunity based on criteria that have nothing to do with their abilities -- whether the yardstick is the color of their skin or the economic circumstances of their parents (or, of course, their gender)."

rule    ruler    criterion    measure    standard   

Portsmouth yardstick   

pickax    hammerhead    moby    creaturesand    handspike