footstick

Noun

footstick (plural footsticks)

1. A measuring rod that is one foot long.
   • Every time, the bricklayers have to use their footstick to check whether the right height has been reached.2008, Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Kees Buys, Young Children Learn Measurement and Geometry, page 74
2. A piece of wood serving as a simple bridge over water.
   • The wee man crossed the footstick to where Johnny was and took him back over to his side.2017, Steve Lally, Monaghan Folk Tales
3. (historical) A sloped or beveled piece of wood or metal placed against the foot of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.
   • The footsticks may be a trifle shorter than the width of two pages and the gutter; for as there should always be a line of quadrats, or a reglet cut to measure, at the foot of each page, the footstick may be a pica shorter without danger, on this account, of any thing falling out, when the form is...1841, William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 330
   • Neither the sidestick nor the footstick should project beyond the other, as it will prevent the quoins from passing, and in unlocking will give a great deal of trouble.1863, H. Morgan, A Dictionary of Terms Used in Printing, page 53