firkin
Americannoun
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a British unit of capacity usually equal to a quarter of a barrel.
-
a small wooden vessel or tub for butter, lard, etc.
noun
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a small wooden barrel or similar container
-
a unit of capacity equal to nine gallons
Etymology
Origin of firkin
1400–50; late Middle English ferdkyn, firdekyn, equivalent to ferde (variant of ferthe fourth ) + -kin -kin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The annual event sees selected town residents taking turns to run through the streets carrying burning wooden firkins in an "ancient rite of passage", Andrew Wade, president of the Tar Barrels Committee, said.
From BBC
He uses an antique wooden firkin once used for storing flour and sugar to sit on that the older French speaking duck hunters call a “bedon.”
From Washington Times
The brewery has several hundred firkins — small casks full of finished beer — with dispensing devices called “beer engines” for serving on premises.
From New York Times
She was—sweet mercy in a firkin—she was a gruesome little baggage.
From Literature
Breweries from all over the area bring firkins of their beer to the Penn Quarter brewpub for a night of tasting.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
