ton

¹ American  

[ton, tawn] / tɒn, tɔ̃ /

noun

1. high fashion; stylishness.

2. the current fashion, style, or vogue.

3. (used with a singular or plural verb) the ton, fashionable society.

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-ton ² American  

1. a suffix formerly used to form nouns from adjectives.

   simpleton; singleton.

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ton ³ American  

[tuhn] / tʌn /

noun

1. a unit of weight, equivalent to 2000 pounds (0.907 metric ton) avoirdupois short ton, or net ton in the United States and 2240 pounds (1.016 metric tons) avoirdupois long ton in Great Britain.

2. 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.

3. metric ton.

4. displacement ton.

5. a unit of volume used in transportation by sea, commonly equal to 40 cubic feet (1.13 cu. m) shipping ton, or measurement ton.

6. a unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 cubic feet (2.83 cu. m) register ton.

7. Informal. Often tons a great quantity; a lot.

   a ton of jokes;

   tons of wedding presents.

8. British Informal. a speed of 100 miles per hour.

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ton ¹ British  

/ tɔ̃ /

noun

1. style, fashion, or distinction

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ton ² British  

/ tʌn /

noun

1. slang a score or achievement of a hundred, esp a hundred miles per hour, as on a motorcycle

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ton ³ British  

/ tʌn /

noun

1. Also called: long ton.  a unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 1016.046909 kilograms

2. Also called: short ton.   net ton.  a unit of weight equal to 2000 pounds or 907.184 kilograms

3. Also called: metric ton.   tonne.  a unit of weight equal to 1000 kilograms

4. 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 kilograms

   freight is charged at £40 per ton of 1 cubic metre

5. Also called: measurement ton.   shipping ton.  a unit of volume used in shipping freight, equal to 40 cubic feet, irrespective of the commodity shipped

6. 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

7. Also called: register ton.  a unit of internal capacity of ships equal to 100 cubic feet

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ton Scientific  

/ tŭn /

1. A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms).

2. Also called short ton

3. See Table at measurement

4. A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,240 pounds (1,008 kilograms).

5. Also called long ton

6. See Table at measurement

7. See metric ton

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ton Idioms  

1. see like a ton of bricks.

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Other Word Forms

• tonish adjective
• tonishly adverb
• tonishness noun
• tonnish adjective
• tonnishly adverb
• tonnishness noun

Etymology

Origin of ton¹

First recorded in 1760–70; from French, from Latin tonus tone

Origin of -ton¹

Variant of dial. tone one ( tother )

Origin of ton¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; variant of tun

Example Sentences

By culling the bears -- which can weigh up to half a ton and outrun a human -- officials hope to stem the threat across parts of northern Japan.

From Barron's

Global copper prices reach an all-time high of $12,044 per ton, marking an annual gain of just under 40%.

From Barron's

Copper was up just over 1% on the session at the London Metal Exchange and changing hands at $12,044 a ton.

From Barron's

Copper, a key component in the AI buildout, hit a fresh all-time high earlier Tuesday and topped the $12,000 a ton mark for the first time on record.

From Barron's

Ng sees support for palm oil at 3,900 ringgit a ton and resistance at 4,080 ringgit a ton.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• alp
• bluff
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• cliff
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• elevation
• eminence
• height
• mesa
• mount
• palisade
• peak
• pike
• precipice
• range
• ridge
• sierra
• tor
• volcano