roughometern.
/rʌˈfɒmᵻtə/, U.S. /rəˈfɑmədər/ Originally U.S.
An instrument for measuring the unevenness of a road surface. Cf. profilometer n. 2.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for measuring flatness or roughness of surfaces
surface gauge1845
planometer1851
true plane1856
profilograph1880
profilometer1925
roughometer1926
1926 Public Roads 7 144/2 The roughometer consists of a rack which is attached in a vertical position to the front axle of the vehicle.
1947 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 20 Mar. 8 (caption) State Highway Department engineers have developed the ‘rough-o-meter’ pictured above to detect some of the tiniest irregularities in the surface of highways.
2003 R. Sudan in C. M. Edmonds Reducing Poverty in Asia vi. 136 A GIS-based system that is linked to data obtained from axle-mounted road quality measurement devices called roughometers has been found extremely useful for identifying poor-quality maintenance work.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1926