yardstick
n.a standard or a measurement used to judge the quality or value of something. You use it to compare things and see how they measure up.
n.a standard of measurement or a criterion for judging the quality, value, or performance of something. Often used metaphorically to describe a benchmark against which other things are evaluated.
“The company uses customer satisfaction as a yardstick for success.”
“In many developing countries, access to clean water remains the primary yardstick for measuring public health progress.”
“While the initial budget served as a yardstick for the project's scope, the final costs were significantly higher due to unforeseen logistical challenges and rising material prices.”
“T he most common measure of democracies’ performance is gross domestic product (GDP), which is a dumb yardstick because it simply records the value of goods and services that have a price.”
“And yet, without such a yardstick, it is hard to calibrate just how much money we should spend to maintain and replenish these precious assets over long periods of time.”
From yard + stick.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.