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

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bushel bushels busheling

The corn and soybean farmer watched as prices fell from $7 a bushel for corn in early 2022 to just $4.29 three years later.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

By 1935, Ford was using roughly a bushel of soybeans in the manufacture of every automobile.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

Chicago wheat futures were up 1.1% at $6.24 a bushel in morning European trade, after rising above $6.41 earlier in the session.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

I should have known that tracing a single bushel of industrial corn is as impossible as tracing a bucket of water after it’s been poured into a river.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

The very night he died, in 1935, his widow and her sister shoveled bushels of his private papers into their West Adams mansion’s basement incinerator.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

U.S. farmers will produce a record-breaking harvest of 4.52 billion bushels of soybeans in 2026, according to projections from the U.S.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Surveyed analysts had forecast corn production to fall from last month to 15.97 billion bushels, and soybeans to climb from the previous month to 4.46 billion bushels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The Department of Agriculture lowered its 2026 U.S. wheat production outlook to 1.56 billion bushels amid drought conditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

“Uncle Paul ain’t brought me none yet A peck ain’t enough to can. He say he got two bushels for me.”

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

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

From Worrying Won't Win by Montague Glass

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

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

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

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

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