chaldron

[chawl-druh n]

noun

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

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for chaldron

Historical Examples of chaldron

Let your sauce be chaldron for a Swan, and serve it in saucers.
The accomplisht cook
Robert May
The rest we intend to sell, we having above ten chaldron between us.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete
Samuel Pepys
One chaldron of Newcastle coal weighs from 2850 to upwards of 2978lb.
A Practical Treatise on Gas-light
Fredrick Accum
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

British Dictionary definitions for chaldron

chaldron

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