cask

American  

[kask, kahsk] / kæsk, kɑsk /

noun

casks plural

1. a container made and shaped like a barrel, especially one larger and stronger, for holding liquids.

2. the quantity such a container holds.

   wine at 32 guineas a cask.

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verb (used with object)

1. to place or store in a cask.

cask British  

/ kɑːsk /

noun

1. a strong wooden barrel used mainly to hold alcoholic drink

   a wine cask

2. any barrel

3. the quantity contained in a cask

4. a lightweight cardboard container with plastic lining and a small tap, used to hold and serve wine

5. engineering another name for flask

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uncask
  verb (used with object)
• casklike
  adjective
• uncasked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• casks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cask

1425–75; late Middle English; back formation from casket, the -et being taken as the diminutive suffix

Explanation

A barrel-shaped container that holds wine or other, usually alcoholic, beverages is called a cask. If you visit a winery, you will often see many rows of wooden wine-filled casks lining the caves and cellars of the winery. If you have a large party, you can open a cask of wine. Experts aren't exactly sure what the origin of the word cask is. They know that it is a noun that comes from the Middle French word casque or the Spanish word casco, and both mean "helmet," but how we got from helmet to wine-filled barrel-shaped container is unclear. Students may have heard of the word cask from Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story of revenge and murder set in a wine cellar, "The Cask of Amontillado."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cask casks

It’s enough to “lead me to open the cask of flip.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

If you let him, Alasdair Day, the co-founder and master distiller, will speak at length about oak species and cask types—I particularly enjoyed a limited release aged in Sicilian Marsala wine casks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

Investors buy a cask of whisky when it is first produced and then hope that it rises in value as the spirit ages in the barrel.

From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025

Another bottle from the same cask was sold by Sotheby’s in 2019 for almost 1.5 million pounds, until Saturday a record for wine or spirits.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2023

Penny was not so fortunate, but he held her anyway as the ship’s hull creaked and groaned alarmingly around them, like a cask about to burst.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

They would need to be put into transportation casks to protect against accidents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

If you let him, Alasdair Day, the co-founder and master distiller, will speak at length about oak species and cask types—I particularly enjoyed a limited release aged in Sicilian Marsala wine casks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

Brooks then proceeded to give me a list of casks for my client to buy – totalling almost £1.5m.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025

He told me there was no mark-up on the casks they bought for investors, and they only made money down the line from the sale of those casks.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025

A train of mules trailed behind them, carrying chests and ~ casks and barrels, and hampers of delectables to keep the lord of cheese from growing peckish.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Related Words

• keg