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

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

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

In the brick-fields at Uxbridge, near the Drayton Station, one of the brickmakers alone will frequently contract for fifteen or sixteen thousand chaldron of this cinder-dust, in one order.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850 by Various

The coal duty raised to 2 s. a chaldron.

From London and the Kingdom - Volume II by Sharpe, Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson)

Dry Measure.--2 pints make 1 quart, 8 quarts make 1 peck, 4 pecks make 1 bushel, 36 bushels make 1 chaldron.

From The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing A Manual of Ready Reference by Triemens, Joseph