kilderkin
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- noun A cask.
- noun An obsolete English measure of capacity equal to 18 imperial gallons (81.8 liters).
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A measure of capacity, half a barrel or 2 firkins.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun A small barrel; an old liquid measure containing eighteen English beer gallons, or nearly twenty-two gallons, United States measure.
Examples
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Devil a drop have you left in the great kilderkin.
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Two firkins, or bushels, make a measure called a rundlet or kilderkin, liquid, and a strike, dry.
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Was I Diogenes, I would not move out of a kilderkin into a hogshead, though the first had had nothing but small beer in it, and the second reeked claret.
The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb
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Court, where flattery is sold by the kilderkin, malignity and ill-offices are measured out in bushels, deceit and treachery are weighed by the ton!
Note
The word 'kilderkin' comes from an Old Dutch word meaning 'a small barrel', and is related to 'kin'.
