Gallon

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gallon \Gal"lon\, n. [OF galon, jalon, LL. galo, galona, fr.
     galum a liquid measure; cf. F. jale large bowl. Cf. {Gill} a
     measure.]
     A measure of capacity, containing four quarts; -- used, for
     the most part, in liquid measure, but sometimes in dry
     measure.


     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The standart gallon of the Unites States contains 231
           cubic inches, or 8.3389 pounds avoirdupois of distilled
           water at its maximum density, and with the barometer at
           30 inches. This is almost exactly equivalent to a
           cylinder of seven inches in diameter and six inches in
           height, and is the same as the old English wine gallon.
           The beer gallon, now little used in the United States,
           contains 282 cubic inches. The English imperial gallon
           contains 10 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water at
           62? of Fahrenheit, and barometer at 30 inches, equal to
           277.274 cubic inches.
           [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Imperial \Im*pe"ri*al\, a. [OE. emperial, OF. emperial, F.
     imp['e]rial, fr. L. imperialis, fr. imperium command,
     sovereignty, empire. See {Empire}.]
     1. Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor; as, an
        imperial government; imperial authority or edict.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The last
              That wore the imperial diadem of Rome. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Belonging to, or suitable to, supreme authority, or one
        who wields it; royal; sovereign; supreme. "The imperial
        democracy of Athens." --Mitford.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns
              With an imperial voice.               --Shak.
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              To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free,
              These are imperial arts, and worthy thee. --Dryden.
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              He sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line
              of battle.                            --E. Everett.
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     3. Of superior or unusual size or excellence; as, imperial
        paper; imperial tea, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Imperial bushel}, {gallon}, etc. See {Bushel}, {Gallon},
        etc.
  
     {Imperial chamber}, the, the sovereign court of the old
        German empire.
  
     {Imperial city}, under the first German empire, a city having
        no head but the emperor.
  
     {Imperial diet}, an assembly of all the states of the German
        empire.
  
     {Imperial drill}. (Manuf.) See under 8th {Drill}.
  
     {Imperial eagle}. (Zool.) See {Eagle}.
  
     {Imperial green}. See {Paris green}, under {Green}.
  
     {Imperial guard}, the royal guard instituted by Napoleon I.
        
  
     {Imperial weights and measures}, the standards legalized by
        the British Parliament.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gallon
       n 1: United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters
            [syn: {gal}]
       2: a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to
          4 quarts or 4.545 liters [syn: {Imperial gallon}, {congius}]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  GALLON, measures. A gallon is a liquid measure, containing two hundred and 
  thirty-one cubic inches, or four quarts.