keg

American  

[keg] / kɛg /

noun

1. a small cask or barrel, usually holding from 5 to 10 gallons (19 to 38 liters).

2. a unit of weight, equal to 100 pounds (45 kilograms), used for nails.

3. Also kegger. a keg party; beer bust.

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keg British  

/ kɛɡ /

noun

1. a small barrel with a capacity of between five and ten gallons

2. 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

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keg Idioms  

1. see sitting on a powder keg.

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Etymology

Origin of keg

1585–95; earlier cag < Old Norse kaggi

Example Sentences

For Crudup, Timothy isn’t a bitter powder keg but a man looking for a little closure, someone who has made peace with the past until the moment he doesn’t get the apology he’s expecting.

From Los Angeles Times

"It's a powder keg now and we need to get something done and we need the Home Office to listen," he added.

From BBC

The press and the then-burgeoning powder keg of social media ran with it.

From Salon

Enda Murray, landlord of three pubs in London, says that his supplier has restricted his supply of Guinness to one or two kegs per pub - just 10% of what they need.

From BBC

One day when Nathan Queeley-Dennis was supposed to be busy lugging beer kegs in the cellar of the pub where he worked, he was instead writing his first script on his phone.

From BBC

Related Words

• cask