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

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Etymology

Origin of cask

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

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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

Two middle-aged Americans, matching orange ringlets marking them as brothers, quizzed the bartender about cask types and chill filtration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 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

This week, the Tennessee-born chain, once defined by its gingham-tinted nostalgia, retired the logo of a man in overalls leaning against a wooden cask in favor of a stripped-down wordmark.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2025

If there was one lesson I took away from it, it was this: if you are thinking of investing in cask whisky, do your homework – because not everybody is who they say they are.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025

The merchant rummaged about in the back of his stall and produced a small oaken cask.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Spent nuclear fuel is stored in lead and stainless steel casks and bolted into concrete at a specially built pad at Diablo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

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

Earlier, SWA director Graeme Littlejohn said the tariffs also harmed the US bourbon industry, which exports casks to Scotland for whisky maturation.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025

Beside her, casks of wine, bales of sourleaf, and pallets of striped hides were being trundled up the gangplank onto the Bride in Azure, to sail on the evening tide.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

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