firkin
Americannoun
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a British unit of capacity usually equal to a quarter of a barrel.
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a small wooden vessel or tub for butter, lard, etc.
noun
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a small wooden barrel or similar container
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a unit of capacity equal to nine gallons
Etymology
Origin of firkin
1400–50; late Middle English ferdkyn, firdekyn, equivalent to ferde (variant of ferthe fourth ) + -kin -kin
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.
He uses an antique wooden firkin once used for storing flour and sugar to sit on that the older French speaking duck hunters call a “bedon.”
From Washington Times • Jun. 21, 2020
In the flesh, Ruth Davidson, 37, is a firkin of fun, speaks with a machine-gun delivery and can hold her own.
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2016
Villagers.Ha, ha, ha! 1st Villager.I say, old feller, you ain't seed nothing of no old butter firkin with no kiver on, no place about here?
From Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van Winkle by Burke, Charles
Now I am writing while sitting upon a firkin of apples that I had sent from our neighbor Williams, waiting for the squad to come and help me eat them.
From At Plattsburg by French, Allen
Rip.No butter firkin mit no kiver no place, no I ain't seen him.
From Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van Winkle by Burke, Charles
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.
