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keg

[ keg ]
/ kɛg /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR keg ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small cask or barrel, usually holding from 5 to 10 gallons (19 to 38 liters).
a unit of weight, equal to 100 pounds (45 kilograms), used for nails.
Also keg·ger. a keg party; beer bust.

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RELATED WORDS

cask, drum, hogshead, pipe, butt, container, vat, firkin, tun, tub

Nearby words

  1. keffiyeh,
  2. kefir,
  3. keflavík,
  4. keflex,
  5. keftedes,
  6. keg party,
  7. kegel exercise,
  8. kegel exercises,
  9. kegeler,
  10. kegeling

Origin of keg

1585–95; earlier cag < Old Norse kaggi
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for keg

British Dictionary definitions for keg

keg

/ (kɛɡ) /

noun

a small barrel with a capacity of between five and ten gallons
British
  1. an aluminium container in which beer is transported and stored
  2. Also called: keg beer beer kept in a keg: it is infused with gas and served under pressure

Word Origin for keg

C17: variant of Middle English kag, of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse kaggi cask
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

Word Origin and History for keg

keg

n.

1630s, earlier kag (mid-15c.), from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse kaggi "keg, cask," of unknown origin. Cognate with Swedish kagge, Norwegian kagg. Specific sense of "barrel of beer" is from 1945. U.S. student slang kegger "party featuring a keg of beer" attested by 1969.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with keg

keg

see sitting on a powder keg.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.