bushel

¹ American  

[boosh-uhl] / ˈbʊʃ əl /

noun

bushels plural

1. a unit of dry measure containing 4 pecks, equivalent in the U.S. (and formerly in England) to 2,150.42 cubic inches or 35.24 liters Winchester bushel, and in Great Britain to 2,219.36 cubic inches or 36.38 liters Imperial bushel. bu., bush.

2. a container of this capacity.

3. a unit of weight equal to the weight of a bushel of a given commodity.

4. a large, unspecified amount or number.

   a bushel of kisses.

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bushel ² American  

[boosh-uhl] / ˈbʊʃ əl /

verb (used with object)

busheled, busheling, bushelled, bushelling

1. to alter or repair (a garment).

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bushel ¹ British  

/ ˈbʊʃəl /

noun

1. a Brit unit of dry or liquid measure equal to 8 Imperial gallons. 1 Imperial bushel is equivalent to 0.036 37 cubic metres

2. a US unit of dry measure equal to 64 US pints. 1 US bushel is equivalent to 0.035 24 cubic metres

3. a container with a capacity equal to either of these quantities

4. informal a large amount; great deal

5. to conceal one's abilities or good qualities

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bushel ² British  

/ ˈbʊʃəl /

verb

1. (tr) to alter or mend (a garment)

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bushel Idioms  

1. see hide one's light under a bushel.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• busheler
  noun
• busheller
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bushels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bushel¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bu(i)sshel, bus(s)chel, from Old French boissel, boistiel, equivalent to boisse unit of measure for grain (from assumed Gaulish bostia; compare Middle Irish bas, bos “palm of the hand, handbreadth,” Breton boz “palm of the hand”) + -el noun suffix

Origin of bushel²

1875–80, < German bosseln to patch < French bosseler to emboss; see boss ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bushel bushels busheling

Wheat prices surged to record highs above $13 per bushel in early 2022.

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

Corn futures rose above $7 per bushel in early 2022 as commodities traders weighed fertilizer shortages and supply disruptions.

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

Corn Prices are currently about $4.40 per bushel, better than 2017, but farmers’ costs have also risen.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

Most-active soybean futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade are up 2.4% to roughly $10.92 a bushel, the highest level in nearly two months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026

My stomach felt as if I’d eaten a bushel of green apples.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

The outlook for U.S. ending stocks was also adjusted for 2026, pegging corn at 1.79 billion bushels, soybeans at 310 million bushels, and wheat at 722 million bushels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Joe Sinclair, president of Iowa farm retailer Quality Ag Services, said he recently sold corn seed to a grower who had projected his fields would yield 200 bushels of corn an acre.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

He explained that the U.S. balance sheet doesn’t have another 294 million bushels of available soybeans to export, especially if the U.S. government delivers strong biofuel quotas as expected in a matter of weeks.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026

The purchase of an additional 8 million tons of soybeans by China equates to roughly 294 million bushels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026

Ten to fourteen bushels of wheat would have been most of his crop.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

They got enough to keep 'em busy busheling the jobs them war correspondents turns in on them.

From Worrying Won't Win by Glass, Montague

So his third evil is the busheling and harrying of genius….

From Fate Knocks at the Door A Novel by Comfort, Will Levington

He did mostly cutting and fitting, but some "busheling."

From The Negro at Work in New York City A Study in Economic Progress by Haynes, George Edmund