The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), n.[OE. barel, F. baril, prob.
fr. barre bar. Cf. Barricade.]
1. A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth,
and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with
hoops, and having flat ends or heads; as, a cracker
barrel. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical
container made of metal, usually called a drum.
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2. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies
for different articles and also in different places for
the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A
barrel of wine is 311/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196
pounds.
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3. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel
of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the
spring is coiled.
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4. A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is
discharged. --Knight.
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5. A jar. [Obs.] --1 Kings xvii. 12.
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6. (Zool.) The hollow basal part of a feather.
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Barrel bulk (Com.), a measure equal to five cubic feet,
used in estimating capacity, as of a vessel for freight.
Barrel drain (Arch.), a drain in the form of a cylindrical
tube.
Barrel of a boiler, the cylindrical part of a boiler,
containing the flues.
Barrel of the ear (Anat.), the tympanum, or tympanic
cavity.
Barrel organ, an instrument for producing music by the
action of a revolving cylinder.
Barrel vault. See under Vault.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Boiler \Boil"er\, n.
1. One who boils.
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2. A vessel in which any thing is boiled.
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Note: The word boiler is a generic term covering a great
variety of kettles, saucepans, clothes boilers,
evaporators, coppers, retorts, etc.
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3. (Mech.) A strong metallic vessel, usually of wrought iron
plates riveted together, or a composite structure
variously formed, in which steam is generated for driving
engines, or for heating, cooking, or other purposes.
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Note: The earliest steam boilers were usually spheres or
sections of spheres, heated wholly from the outside.
Watt used the wagon boiler (shaped like the top of a
covered wagon) which is still used with low pressures.
Most of the boilers in present use may be classified as
plain cylinder boilers, flue boilers, sectional and
tubular boilers.
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Barrel of a boiler, the cylindrical part containing the
flues.
Boiler plate, Boiler iron, plate or rolled iron of about
a quarter to a half inch in thickness, used for making
boilers and tanks, for covering ships, etc.
Cylinder boiler, one which consists of a single iron
cylinder.
Flue boilers are usually single shells containing a small
number of large flues, through which the heat either
passes from the fire or returns to the chimney, and
sometimes containing a fire box inclosed by water.
Locomotive boiler, a boiler which contains an inclosed fire
box and a large number of small flues leading to the
chimney.
Multiflue boiler. Same as Tubular boiler, below.
Sectional boiler, a boiler composed of a number of
sections, which are usually of small capacity and similar
to, and connected with, each other. By multiplication of
the sections a boiler of any desired capacity can be built
up.
Tubular boiler, a boiler containing tubes which form flues,
and are surrounded by the water contained in the boiler.
See Illust. of Steam boiler, under Steam.
Tubulous boiler. See under Tubulous. See Tube, n., 6,
and 1st Flue.
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