Barrel vs. Gallon — What's the Difference?

A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wood or metal hoops.

The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as 4.546 09 litres, which is used in the United Kingdom, Canada, and some Caribbean countries; the US gallon (US gal) defined as 231 cubic inches (exactly 3.785 411 784 litres), which is used in the US and some Latin American and Caribbean countries; and the US dry gallon ("usdrygal"), defined as 1/8 US bushel (exactly 4.404 883 770 86 litres).There are four quarts in a gallon and eight pints in a gallon, which have different volumes in different systems.

A cylindrical container bulging out in the middle, traditionally made of wooden staves with metal hoops round them

A unit of volume in the US Customary System, used in liquid measure, equal to 4 quarts (3.785 liters).

A tube forming part of an object such as a gun or a pen

A unit of volume in the British Imperial System, used in liquid and dry measure, equal to 4 quarts (4.546 liters). See Table at measurement.

The belly and loins of a four-legged animal such as a horse

A container with a capacity of one gallon.

Drive or move in a way that is so fast as to almost be out of control

The contents of such a container.

Put into a barrel or barrels

A unit of volume, equivalent to eight pints

A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.

Exactly 4.54609 liters; an imperial gallon

The quantity that a barrel with a given or standard capacity will hold.

(US) 231 cubic inches or approximately 3.785 liters for liquids (a "U.S. liquid gallon")

Abbr. bar. or bbl. or bl. Any of various units of volume or capacity. In the US Customary System it varies, as a liquid measure, from 31 to 42 gallons (117 to 159 liters) as established by law or usage.

(US) one-eighth of a U.S. bushel or approximately 4.405 liters for dry goods (a "U.S. dry gallon").

The thicker portion of a baseball bat, from which the most powerful hits are struck.

A large quantity (of any liquid).

The cylindrical part of a firearm through which the bullet travels.

A measure of capacity, containing four quarts; - used, for the most part, in liquid measure, but sometimes in dry measure.

A cylinder that contains a movable piston.

United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

The drum of a capstan.

A British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 quarts or 4.545 liters

The cylinder within the mechanism of a timepiece that contains the mainspring.

The trunk of a quadruped animal, such as a horse or cow.

The tubular space inside a wave when it is breaking.

(Informal) A large quantity

(Slang) An act or instance of moving rapidly, often recklessly, in a motor vehicle.

Resembling or similar to a barrel, as in shape

To put or pack in a barrel.

To move or progress rapidly

(countable) A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (head). Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun#Noun holds. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)

The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.

A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case

A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.

(television) A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.

(archaic) A tube.

(zoology) The hollow basal part of a feather.

(music) The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and looks rather like a barrel (1).

(surfing) A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.

A waste receptacle.

The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.

(obsolete) A jar.

(biology) Any of the dark-staining regions in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, etc., where somatosensory inputs from the contralateral side of the body come in from the thalamus.

(baseball) A statistic derived from launch angle and exit velocity of a ball hit in play.

(transitive) To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

(intransitive) To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.

(intransitive) To assume the shape of a barrel; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit barrel distortion, where the sides bulge outwards.

A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads; as, a cracker barrel. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 31½ gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds.

A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.

A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.

A jar.

The hollow basal part of a feather.

To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

A tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired

A cylindrical container that holds liquids

A bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends

The quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold

Any of various units of capacity;

Put in barrels