cask

[ kask, kahsk ]

noun

1. a container made and shaped like a barrel, especially one larger and stronger, for holding liquids.
2. the quantity such a container holds:

   wine at 32 guineas a cask.

verb (used with object)

1. to place or store in a cask.

cask

/ kɑːsk /

noun

1. a strong wooden barrel used mainly to hold alcoholic drink

   a wine cask

2. any barrel
3. the quantity contained in a cask
4. a lightweight cardboard container with plastic lining and a small tap, used to hold and serve wine
5. engineering another name for flask

Other Words From

• casklike adjective
• un·cask verb (used with object)
• un·casked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cask¹

1425–75; late Middle English; back formation from casket, the -et being taken as the diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of cask¹

C15: from Spanish casco helmet, perhaps from cascar to break

Example Sentences

“It’s a whisky I would keep in my collection,” said Vic Cameron, a whisky lecturer at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, referring to a Penderyn single malt finished in a former Madeira cask.

From New York Times

The judging panel gave the Seattle whiskey a score of 94 out of 100, landing only behind the No. 1 Glenglassaugh Sandend Scotch and the No. 2 Highland Park Cask Strength, both of which scored 95 out of 100.

From Seattle Times

But Gerry's lament is drawn from a cask of finely aged romance no twenty- or thirtysomething could possibly access, a heretofore unknown cocktail on this show.

From Salon

Sotheby's said the 40 bottles from the 1926 cask had been labelled in different ways.

From BBC

Another bottle from the same cask was sold by Sotheby’s in 2019 for almost 1.5 million pounds, until Saturday a record for wine or spirits.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• keg