The long three-sided box held in the compositor 's left hand, into which the letters from the type case are placed.

A hand tool in which type is assembled and justified.

In printing and typesetting, a composing stick is an instrument used to assemble pieces of metal type into words and lines which are later bound into a forme and printed. The stick may be held in either the left hand or the right hand, depending on the operator's preference. The composing stick has one adjustable end allowing the length of the lines and consequent width of the page or column to be set.