cask

IPA/kɑːsk/
KK[kˈæsk]IPA/kæsk/

cask — noun

  • casksingular
  • casksplural

1. a round wooden container, usually made with metal bands around it, used for keep

1.nounB2
Definition

a round wooden container, usually made with metal bands around it, used for keeping and transporting liquids such as wine, beer, or oil

Example

Amir rolled the heavy cask of olive oil down the ramp into the cellar.

collocation: heavy cask + preposition of movement

The old wine cask in Diego's restaurant sat there for over thirty years.

Common collocations
  • wine cask
  • whisky cask
  • oak cask
  • tap a cask
  • roll a cask
  • cask lid
Synonyms
  • barrel

    more general — can be any material (metal, plastic, wood) and any size

  • keg

    smaller than a cask, typically metal, used especially for beer

  • drum

    cylindrical metal or plastic container for oil, chemicals, or bulk goods

  • vat

    a very large container, often fixed in place, used for industrial volumes of liquid

Usage Note

Distinguish from 'barrel': a cask is almost always made of wood and used for liquids, especially alcoholic drinks, while a barrel can be metal or plastic and hold dry goods too.

Common Mistakes

The oil was stored in huge metal casks on the ship.
The oil was stored in huge metal drums on the ship.
a cask is made of wood; large metal containers for oil or chemicals are called drums, not casks.

2. the entire contents of one cask — used when talking about how much liquid there

2.nounB2
Definition

the entire contents of one cask — used when talking about how much liquid there is, or when the container and the drink inside are counted together

Example

Kwame ordered a cask of ale for the village festival next month.

pattern: ordered + a cask of + drink + for an event

The monastery bought two casks of mead every autumn from a nearby farm.

Common collocations
  • a cask of ale
  • a cask of beer
  • order a cask
  • brew a cask
  • drink a cask
Synonyms
  • barrel

    also used as a measure ('a barrel of oil'), but usually for much larger volumes

  • keg

    a smaller measure, common in modern beer ordering

Grammar Patterns

a cask of + liquid

Usage Note

Always followed by 'of' and a liquid: 'a cask of wine', 'two casks of ale'. This sense measures quantity, not the container itself — when you order 'a cask of beer', you are buying the beer, not just the wooden vessel.

Word family

  • caskful
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words describe cylindrical containers, but they differ in material, size, and typical use. A cask is almost always wooden and used for liquids, especially alcoholic drinks like wine or whisky. A barrel is the most general term — it can be wooden, metal, or plastic, and can hold anything from oil to pickles. A keg is smaller than a cask, usually metal, and strongly associated with modern beer service. A drum is a metal or plastic cylinder used for transporting oil, chemicals, or bulk dry goods — you would never store fine wine in a drum. A vat is much larger than all the others, often fixed permanently in a factory or brewery, and holds industrial volumes. Think of a cask as the traditional wooden choice for ageing spirits, a keg as what arrives at a pub, a drum as what sits in a warehouse, and a vat as what towers over a factory floor.

barrel ↗keg ↗drum ↗vat ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • cask of [liquid]

Phrases

  • cask-aged
  • cask ale

Prepositions

  • in a cask
  • from a cask
  • into a cask

Etymology

LatinSpanishFrenchEnglish

Cask comes from the Middle French word 'casque' (meaning both 'helmet' and 'cask'), which in turn came from Spanish 'casco' (skull, helmet, potsherd, cask). The Spanish word is related to 'cascar' (to break), so the original idea was 'something broken off' — like a shard of pottery. Over time the word shifted from 'potsherd' to 'helmet' (by shape — a piece worn on the head) and then to 'barrel' (another hollow, rounded object). English borrowed it in the 1400s, and by the 1600s it had settled into the modern meaning of a wooden barrel for liquids.