ton1
[tuhn]
- a unit of weight, equivalent to 2000 pounds (0.907 metric ton) avoirdupois (short ton) in the U.S. and 2240 pounds (1.016 metric tons) avoirdupois (long ton) in Great Britain.
- Also called freight ton. a unit of volume for freight that weighs one ton, varying with the type of freight measured, as 40 cubic feet of oak timber or 20 bushels of wheat.
- metric ton.
- displacement ton.
- a unit of volume used in transportation by sea, commonly equal to 40 cubic feet (1.13 cu. m) (shipping ton or measurement ton).
- a unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 cubic feet (2.83 cu. m) (register ton).
- Often tons. Informal. a great quantity; a lot: a ton of jokes; tons of wedding presents.
- British Informal. a speed of 100 miles per hour.
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Origin of ton1
ton2
[French tawn]
- high fashion; stylishness.
- the current fashion, style, or vogue.
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Origin of ton2
-ton
- a suffix formerly used to form nouns from adjectives: simpleton; singleton.
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Origin of -ton
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ton
Contemporary Examples
But there's a ton of value for me in my background and my history, and losing it would be a shame.
Some of the things that Jay lied about to the cops actually make a ton of sense.
For those in the resource world, every ton of junk that goes into a landfill represents wasted energy.
Red squirrels cache the pinecones (saving the bears a ton of work).
So I went in, met Michael Bay, and did the video, and it won an MTV Video Music Award and got me a ton of work.
‘Mockingjay’s’ Mastermind: Francis Lawrence on the Book vs. Movie, ISIS Parallels, and MoreMarlow Stern
November 23, 2014
Historical Examples
A ton on some other planet, where the attraction of gravity is less, does not weigh half a ton.
Pax VobiscumHenry Drummond
"This confounded blunderbuss must weigh a ton, I think," Loubet went on.
The DownfallEmile Zola
We only got a ton after all, when we should have liked a dozen or fourteen tons!
The Last VoyageLady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
Tell Gubby I think of him as much as when I weighed half a ton.
Philo Gubb Correspondence-School DetectiveEllis Parker Butler
We'll get more ounces to the ton out of our crushings than they ever heard of on the Rand, too.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
ton1
- Also called: long ton British a unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 1016.046909 kilograms
- Also called: short ton, net ton US a unit of weight equal to 2000 pounds or 907.184 kilograms
- Also called: metric ton, tonne a unit of weight equal to 1000 kilograms
- Also called: freight ton a unit of volume or weight used for charging or measuring freight in shipping. It depends on the type of material being shipped but is often taken as 40 cubic feet, 1 cubic metre, or 1000 kilogramsfreight is charged at £40 per ton of 1 cubic metre
- Also called: measurement ton, shipping ton a unit of volume used in shipping freight, equal to 40 cubic feet, irrespective of the commodity shipped
- Also called: displacement ton a unit used for measuring the displacement of a ship, equal to 35 cubic feet of sea water or 2240 pounds
- Also called: register ton a unit of internal capacity of ships equal to 100 cubic feet
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See also tons
Word Origin
C14: variant of tun
ton2
- style, fashion, or distinction
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Word Origin
C18: from French, from Latin tonus tone
ton3
- slang, mainly British a score or achievement of a hundred, esp a hundred miles per hour, as on a motorcycle
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Word Origin
C20: special use of ton 1 applied to quantities of one hundred
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 ton
n.
late 14c., tonne, unit for measuring the carrying capacity of a ship, originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun (q.v.). The two words were not differentiated until 1680s. The measure of weight is first recorded late 15c.; the spelling ton is from 1530s, and became firmly established 18c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ton
[tŭn]
- A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). Also called short ton See Table at measurement.
- A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,240 pounds (1,008 kilograms). Also called long ton See Table at measurement.
- See metric ton.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with ton
ton
see like a ton of bricks.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.