tape measure
"tape-measure" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tape measure” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A graduated flexible ribbon used for measuring lengths.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tape-measure · tape measure · English
tape measure · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tape measure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tape measure” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tape measure is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A graduated flexible ribbon used for measuring lengths.".
Zero misspellings are on record for tape measure in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is tape measure, spelled T-A-P-E- -M-E-A-S-U-R-E.
Definition
- 1A graduated flexible ribbon used for measuring lengths.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how tape measure appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Reappearing, tape-measure in hand, he went into the bedroom and took slow and accurate measurements, whistling delightedly to find that his pre-mortem theoretical calculations and post-mortem practical measurements hardly varied.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.