He decided he needed an external standard, something that would compare grades at the local school with those around the country.

Her father is the vice president for external standards and advanced technology at Citigroup, the financial services company in Manhattan.

"The bigger argument is, Do you want these external standards and tests or not?"

By what external standard could you check its judgements?

The Rule is an arbitrary external standard or Amount that measures something other than itself.

So, there is no obvious answer to the question of whether or not to tie a nation's currency to some external standard.

All the furniture seemed to have been purchased by someone less concerned with their own taste than with satisfying some arbitrary external standard.

The artist works for himself or herself, as well as against an external standard of excellence.

Courts may also look to external standards, which are either mentioned explicitly in the contract or implied by common practice in a certain field.

The alternate process is that of absolute pitch, the ability to name or replicate a tone without reference to an external standard.