keg
Americannoun
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kegs
plural
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a small cask or barrel, usually holding from 5 to 10 gallons (19 to 38 liters).
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a unit of weight, equal to 100 pounds (45 kilograms), used for nails.
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Also kegger. a keg party; beer bust.
noun
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a small barrel with a capacity of between five and ten gallons
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an aluminium container in which beer is transported and stored
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Also called: keg beer. beer kept in a keg: it is infused with gas and served under pressure
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of keg
1585–95; earlier cag < Old Norse kaggi
Explanation
A keg is a metal container for liquids, especially beer. A keg typically holds less than thirty gallons. Bars and pubs have plenty of kegs, each containing different brands and types of beer, and occasionally they'll also have kegs of root beer or other soft drinks. When a large quantity of carbonated liquid is needed, a keg works well because it keeps its contents under pressure. The original kegs were made of wood, and in addition to beverages, they also held things like gunpowder and nails. Keg comes from the Old Norse kaggi, "cask or keg."
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.
See Examples For:
After all, his previous four seasons spent coaching the Trojans had been nothing short of a powder keg, filled with ups and downs, as well as a constant undercurrent of tension and uncertainty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The career soldier, who in 2021 collaborated with Daglo to oust civilians from a transitional government, wrote on Wednesday: "I long recognised that the RSF was a powder keg."
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
I long recognized that the RSF was a powder keg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
Dahlia Lithwick: I find the public-facing discourse around shootings to be impoverished, dangerous, and a powder keg on its own terms.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
Page 61 I left him to have a little conversation over by the keg pool.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
Companies are dealing not only with a lack of demand but also with shipping bottlenecks that have delayed deliveries of everything from heavy machinery to kegs of imported beer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
To prepare for Thursday’s night’s match against Tunisia, Wallingford had 35 kegs of beer cooling and 400 croquettes—a Dutch fried snack—shipped from out of town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Damon Jeffery is the owner of Ipswich's Thomas Wolsey pub, which, on Saturday, when the team was promoted, sold 110 kegs – each containing 88 pints - of beer.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
Alexie Winship said she was among spectators watching the Hallaton bottle kicking event in Leicestershire, where players attempt to wrestle wood kegs through a field to win.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2025
He’d forgotten they couldn’t risk candles or lanterns near the kegs and bags of powder.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
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.
