a unit of capacity, used esp for alcoholic beverages. It has several values, being 54 imperial gallons in the case of beer and 52.5 imperial gallons in the case of wine
2.
a large cask used for shipment of wines and spirits
Word origin
C14: of obscure origin
hogshead in American English
(ˈhɔgzˌhɛd)
noun
1.
a large barrel or cask holding from 63 to 140 gallons (238 to 530 liters)
2.
any of various units of liquid measure, esp. one equal to 63 gallons or 521⁄2 imperial gallons (238 liters)
Word origin
ME hoggeshede, lit., hog's head: reason for name uncert.
Examples of 'hogshead' in a sentence
hogshead
Then how many pints are left when a hogshead is divided by two?
Fidelis Morgan THE RIVAL QUEENS: A COUNTESS ASHBY DE LA ZOUCHE MYSTERY (2002)