hogshead

Noun

Open English WordNet

Noun (2)

  1. a British unit of capacity for alcoholic beveragesType of British capacity unit, Imperial capacity unitParts barrel, bbl
  2. a large cask especially one holding 63 galsType of barrel, cask
Word of the day · Sep 28About this word
onerousadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Hogs′head noun

Origin: D. okshoofd; akin to Sw. oxhufvud, Dan. oxehoved, G. oxhoft; apparently meaning orig., ox head, but it is not known why this name was given. Cf. Ox, Head.

1. An English measure of capacity, containing 63 wine gallons, or about 52½ imperial gallons; a half pipe.

☞ The London hogshead of beer was 54 beer gallons, the London hogshead of ale was 48 ale gallons. Elsewhere in England the ale and beer hogsheads held 51 gallons. These measures are no longer in use, except for cider.

2. A large cask or barrel, of indefinite contents; esp. one containing from 100 to 140 gallons. US

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

Advertisement