barometers

Noun

barometer (plural barometers)

1. An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure.
   • Elsewhere, professionals could enthuse over new precision instruments capable, for instance, of measuring weights down to a tenth of a milligram, or over a host of self-registering thermometers and barometers, microscopes, typewriters, calculators and all sorts of technical and musical devices...1978, Jan Romein, The Watershed of Two Eras: Europe in 1900, page 303
2. (broadly, figuratively) Anything used as a gauge or indicator.
   • "An election is not necessarily an accurate barometer of public opinion. There are other ways in which it makes itself felt, through the press, the forum, discussion, and through every other type of communication."1916 Jun, Michigan Law Review, volume 14, number 8, pp. 661-665