barometer

Noun

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,...
2. 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." -...
   • The weakest members of society become social barometers or canaries in a coal mine. - 2006, Anthony Marcus, Where Have All the Homeless Gone?: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page 152:
   • Italy’s 10-year yield spread versus Germany, considered a barometer of political and economic risks in the euro area, climbed as high as 1.9 percentage points on Tuesday, its widest since the early stages of the...