chaldron

[ chawl-druh n ]

/ ˈtʃɔl drən /

noun

an English dry measure formerly used for coal, coke, lime, and the like, varying locally from 32 to 36 bushels or more.

Nearby words

Origin of chaldron

1375–1425; late Middle English, earlier chaudron < Middle French chauderon cauldron

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chaldron

One chaldron of Newcastle coal weighs from 2850 to upwards of 2978lb.
A Practical Treatise on Gas-light|Fredrick Accum
The rest we intend to sell, we having above ten chaldron between us.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys
This afternoon came my great store of Coles in, being to Chaldron, so that I may see how long they will last me.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys
Called up by people come to deliver in ten chaldron of coals, brought in one of our prizes from Newcastle.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys

I did not care what it was worth, I did not know what a chaldron was, anyway,—and I have never found out.
The Believing Years|Edmund Lester Pearson

British Dictionary definitions for chaldron

chaldron

/ (ˈtʃɔːldrən) /

noun

a unit of capacity equal to 36 bushels. Formerly used in the US for the measurement of solids, being equivalent to 1.268 cubic metres. Used in Britain for both solids and liquids, it is equivalent to 1.309 cubic metres

Word Origin for chaldron

C17: from Old French chauderon cauldron

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012