From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha gauge of somethinga gauge of somethingsomething that helps you make a judgment about a person or situation Retail sales are a gauge of consumer spending. The tests will give parents a gauge of how their children are doing. → gauge
Examples from the Corpus
a gauge of something• Retail sales are a gauge of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of economic activity.• Between August 1915 and April 1917, the line was reopened to a gauge of 15ins, and is still in operation.• How hard writing was for each of us was a gauge of how serious we were.• Its yield, a gauge of economic growth and inflation expectations, fell 8 basis points to 6. 07 percent. 