hogshead

[O. Dut. okshoofd, oxhoofd; Ger. orhoft, a word of obscure origin, though po ibly so named from an ox head having been branded on the cask; Dan. oxhoved; O. Sw. oxhufwud = (1) the head of an ox, (2) a hogshead.] 1. In the United States a butt, a cask containing from one hundred to one hundred and forty gallons. 2. A measure of capacity containing sixty-three wine gallons, or fifty-two and a half imperial gallons. Formerly the London hogshead of beer was fifty-four beer gallons, the hogshead of ale was forty-eight ale gallons, and the hogshead of beer or ale for the rest of England was fifty-one gallons. Now seldom used of beer, but almost invariably of cider. "To send hogsheads of their best cider as peace offerings to the victors." -Macaulay: Hist . Eng ., ch. v. 3. Any large cask or barrel. *hog'-shear-ing, s. [Eng. hog , and shearing .] term used to denote much ado about nothing. A A hog-steër, s . [Eng. hog , and steer , s. (q. v.)] wild boar of three years old. (Stanyhurst: Virgil's Æneid , iv. 163.) hog-sty, s. [Eng. hog, and sty.] A sty or pen for hogs or swine; a place where hogs are shut up to be fed.