ton1
/tʌn
/(abbreviation t, also US tn)
noun
1 (also long ton) A unit of weight equal to 2,240 lb avoirdupois (1016.05 kg).The film details the story of what might happen if an atomic bomb equal to 20,000 tons of TNT were exploded at 1,000 ft above a British city of half a million people....
- Couriers ride the trikes with attached trailers, the strongest of which can take a quarter of a ton in weight, from our Walmgate offices with the latest copies of the newspaper and ferry them to various destinations.
- The feats achieved in this film make spectacular viewing, with tiny lorries hauling sacks of cement totalling several tons in weight as they climb fantastic Scottish mountain tracks.
1.1 (also short ton) chiefly North American A unit of weight equal to 2,000 lb avoirdupois (907.19 kg).Units exported or imported were reported only in pounds, gallons, bales, bushels, short tons, dozens, bags, crates and bunches, etc., depending on the commodity....
- U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force and Army aircraft delivered several million gallons of fuel and short tons of supplies to support the operations.
- Calico's annual output was accordingly very small through 1888, probably not exceeding 250 short tons, or 500,000 pounds, valued at no more than $33,500.
1.2 short for metric ton.
1.3 (also displacement ton) A unit of measurement of a ship’s weight representing the weight of water it displaces with the load line just immersed, equal to 2,240 lb or 35 cu. ft (0.99 cubic metres).The four ships will replace the smaller LSLs of the Sir Galahad and Sir Bedivere classes, which displace between 6,700 tons and 8,585 tons fully loaded....
- The ships displaced between 425 and 440 tons fully loaded, with a speed of 15 knots.
- River-class ships are just under 80 metres long and displace 1,700 tons fully loaded.
1.4 (also freight ton) A unit of weight or volume of sea cargo, equal to a metric ton (1,000 kg) or 40 cu. ft.In all we seized 40,000 tons of illegal cargo, mostly oil....
- They are about 135 feet long; each has a crew of 14 sailors and can haul 125 tons of cargo.
- There are 17,000 tons of cargo in the Chilean port of Arica that cannot be transported because the railroad between Arica and La Paz has been paralyzed.
2 (also gross ton) A unit of gross internal capacity, equal to 100 cu. ft (2.83 cubic metres).Another mouse click brings up a table listing each individual bunker's location, its area in square feet, and its sand capacity in cubic feet, cubic yards and tons....
- The International Maritime Organization already requires units above three hundred gross tons to carry Inmarsat-C, as part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System and in accordance with the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
- They also welded together 5,200 merchant ships totalling 39 million gross tons.
2.1 (also net or register ton) An equivalent unit of net internal capacity.With only 940 passengers, you get to know your shipmates; but at 49,400 gross register tons, she offers all the on-board options one could desire - sans the gimmicks of the new floating resorts....
- U.S. citizenship is still required for an owner to document a vessel and the vessel must be at least five net tons.
- Upon entering service, the QM2 becomes the largest and longest passenger ship in the world at 150,000 gross register tons (8,000 more than the Voyager of the Seas) and 1,132 feet from stem to stern (exceeding the Norway by 97 feet).
2.2A measure of capacity for various materials, especially 40 cu. ft of timber.In 1772 one of the side branches was thrown down in a violent gale and, on being measured, was found to contain about five tons of timber....
- Sources in the industry say that about 2,000 tons of timber leave Mayo and the North West every week for the south eastern processing industry.
- At present the forests there move between 80000 and 100000 tons of timber a year by road.
2.3A unit of refrigerating power able to freeze 2,000 lb of water at 0°C in 24 hours.The plant would produce 150 megawatts of electricity and 20,000 tons of cooling.
3 (usually a ton of/tons of) informal A large number or amount: all of a sudden I had tons of friends...
- The store sells a ton of books and, just as important, serves as a focus and catalyst for a community of passionate readers.
- He sold a ton of books and videos based on his fearmongering statements that the lights would turn out at midnight on January 1st, 2000.
- My friend brought along a ton of gymnastic books and magazines.
4British informal A hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more, or a sum of £100: he scored 102 not out, his third ton of the tour...
- James failed by just three runs to hit his second successive ton when he fell for 97 at Cawood.
- Sleep had not scored a ton in the league since 1996 but made up for lost time with an imperious 151 not out.
- He said that scoring a Test ton was the pinnacle of his career.
adverb (tons) British informal
Much; a lot: I feel tons better...
- That's not even an exhaustive list - I'm positive there's tons I've missed out.
- Your know, you guys have got tons of great ideas but you won't be able to do anything with them unless you win some elections again.
- They love you tons and probably want to know if you're ok.
Phrases
like a ton of bricks
weigh a ton
Origin
Middle English: variant of tun, both spellings being used for the container and the weight. The senses were differentiated in the late 17th century.
Ton is a variant of tun, both spellings being used for the container and the weight in the past. The senses were differentiated in the late 17th century, with tun limited to a ‘cask’. A ton was originally a term for the capacity for a ship, originally the volume of space occupied by a cask or wine. The metric tonne—1 000 kilograms—first appears in English in the late 19th century, adopted from French. A little ton was, in French, a tonel, source of the word tunnel (Late Middle English).
Rhymes
ton2
/tɒ̃/noun [mass noun]
1Fashionable style or distinction: riches and fame were no guarantee of a ticket—one had to have ton...
- Whereas the rest of the comedy takes place in closed drawing, dressing, and dining-rooms, and uses a small cast, the party suddenly opens up spatially into the world of ton or fashion.
1.1 (the ton) [treated as singular or plural] Fashionable society: it is the most elegant establishment and half the ton was there...
- The ballroom was filled with all the fashionable people of the ton, and it left one to wonder if anyone had not been invited.
- Raven black curls fell riotously around her face, holding no semblance at all to the painfully tidy styles of the London ton.
Origin
French, from Latin tonus (see tone).