Synonyms

T square

American

noun

a T -shaped ruler, used primarily in mechanical drawing, having a short crosspiece that slides along the edge of the drawing board as a guide to the perpendicular longer section in making parallel lines, right angles, etc., and as a support for triangles.

T-square British

noun

a T-shaped ruler used in mechanical drawing, consisting of a short crosspiece, which slides along the edge of the drawing board, and a long horizontal piece: used for drawing horizontal lines and to support set squares when drawing vertical and inclined lines

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of T square

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But that didn’t square with a Jan. 9 memo handed down by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that calls for AI labs to amend their defense contracts to allow “any lawful use” of their technology.

From MarketWatch

“Tom’s mental health has always been a struggle. Sometimes he can’t square fantasy with reality. It could make things dangerous on his projects, and it ruined all his relationships. He was on medication for a long time and that seemed to help. When he left the project, he was planning to live quietly on his own. Early retirement. He had enough money. I hadn’t heard from him until just a couple of weeks ago.”

From Literature

I just can’t square those things.

From Slate

We’ll each make a flying craft/object/thing out of clay, and then we’ll have a contest to see whose flings the farthest across the room off of a big metal T square mounted to his desk.

From Literature

But as agreeable as it is, it can’t square its jabs with its sentimentality.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023