chaldron

American  

[chawl-druhn] / ˈtʃɔl drən /

noun

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

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chaldron British  

/ ˈtʃɔːldrən /

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

Origin of chaldron

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

Example Sentences

This locomotive drew sixteen chaldron waggons containing an aggregate weight of seventy tons, at the rate of about three miles an hour. 

From Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Smiles, Samuel

Let your sauce be chaldron for a Swan, and serve it in saucers.

From The accomplisht cook or, The art & mystery of cookery by May, Robert

Cruel King Coal and his merry men, Twenty and five fat rogues were they, Cabbaged fourpence a chaldron first, then ten, And a penny to boot made poor folks pay.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

About half a chaldron of small coal lay heaped in a wooden angular fence fitted to the ship's side, for the sight of which I thanked God.

From The Frozen Pirate by Russell, W. Clark (William Clark)

He tells us that the coal duty, which was on sea-borne coal, was 1s. 6d. per chaldron, whereof four-fifths went to St. Paul's.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch by Dimock, Arthur