/ · 1894 Brewer’s · J · Jacob’s Staff
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
An instrument for taking heights and distances.
“Reach then a soaring quill, that I may write
As with a Jacoh’s staff to take her height.”
Cleveland: The Hecatomb to his Mistress.
The Apostle James is usually represented with a staff.
“As he had travelled many a summer’s day
Through boiling sands of Arabie and Ynd;
And in his hand a Jacob’s staff to stay
His weary limbs upon.”
Spenser: Faërie Queene, book i. can to vi. 32–35.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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