Tun
WordNet
noun
(1) A large cask especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 butts or 252 gals
WiktionaryText
Noun
- A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask.
- A fermenting vat.
- An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 252 wine gallons; equal to two pipes.
- 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205:
- Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.
- 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205:
- A weight of 2,240 pounds.
- An indefinite large quantity.
- A drunkard; so called humorously, or in contempt.
- Any shell belonging to Dolium and allied genera; called also tun-shell.