The Chinese word for ruler is
直尺

zhí chǐ

Chinese Definition

ruler
1. 标尺
Components
直
1. straight; linear; undeviating
直線 - straight line
Antonyms: 彎, 彎曲, (Cantonese) 攣
2. to straighten
3. vertical; upright; erect
4. honest; fair
5. straightforward; forthright; frank
6. directly; straight
直去 - to go directly to
7. intentionally; deliberately
Synonyms: 只
8. (Chinese calligraphy) vertical stroke in Chinese characters
9. constantly
10. (slang) straight; heterosexual
直男 - heterosexual man
Antonyms: 彎, (Cantonese) 攣
11. (historical) Short for ^直隸, Zhili
^直系軍閥 - the Zhili faction (of the Beiyang warlords)
尺
1. chi; Chinese foot (a traditional Chinese unit of distance based on the human forearm and equal to 10 cun (丈*))
2. (Mainland) mainland chi; Chinese foot, standardized in 1984 as meter
3. (Taiwan) Taiwanese foot, standardized as meter and identical to the Japanese shaku
4. (Hong Kong) chek; Hong Kong foot, standardized as 0.371475 meters
5. (informal) imperial foot
Synonyms: 英尺, 呎
6. ruler (straightedge)
7. tape measure
8. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note re (2).
9. (music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note re (2).