Barrel vs. Tun — 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.

A large beer or wine cask.

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

An imperial measure of capacity, equal to 4 hogsheads.

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

A large marine mollusc which has a rounded shell with broad spirals.

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

Store (wine or other alcoholic drinks) in a tun.

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

A large cask for liquids, especially wine.

Put into a barrel or barrels

A measure of liquid capacity, especially one equivalent to approximately 252 gallons (954 liters).

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

A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)

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

(brewing) A fermenting vat.

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.

(historical) A traditional unit of liquid measure equal to 252 wine gallons or 2 pipes.

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

Synonym of long ton: a unit of mass equal to 2240 pounds, 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.

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

(figurative) ton: any extremely or excessively large amount.

A cylinder that contains a movable piston.

Synonym of drunkard: a person who drinks excessively.

The drum of a capstan.

Any shell belonging to Tonna and allied genera.

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

The cryptobiotic state of a tardigrade, when its metabolism is temporarily suspended.

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

A part of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar system which corresponds to 18 winal cycles or 360 days.

The tubular space inside a wave when it is breaking.

(transitive) To put into tuns, or casks.

(Informal) A large quantity

A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask.

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

A fermenting vat.

Resembling or similar to a barrel, as in shape

A certain measure for liquids, as for wine, equal to two pipes, four hogsheads, or 252 gallons. In different countries, the tun differs in quantity.

To put or pack in a barrel.

A weight of 2,240 pounds. See Ton.

To move or progress rapidly

An indefinite large quantity.

(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.

A drunkard; - so called humorously, or in contempt.

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

Any shell belonging to Dolium and allied genera; - called also tun-shell.

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

To put into tuns, or casks.

A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case

A large cask especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 butts or 252 gals

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