barometer
📖 Definitions
noun
1. A device for determining atmospheric pressure in predicting weather.
2. Something used as a gauge or as an indicator of change.
3. A standard for measuring something.
💬 Usage Examples
“Since the Vietnam War, the US military has shied away from body counts as a barometer of success, but Lt. General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led coalition in Iraq, estimated in August that forty-five thousand fighters had been ‘taken off the battlefield’ in the Islamic State.” Robin Wright; After the Islamic State; The New Yorker; Dec 12, 2016. “If history is a barometer, this will get much stormier and play out over quite a while.” Dan K.
Thomasson; Watergate Portends More Troubles; Daily Record (Wooster, Ohio); May 24, 2017.