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Webster 1913 Edition

Bushel

Bush′el

(bụsh′ĕl)
,
Noun.
[OE.
buschel
,
boischel
, OF.
boissel
,
bussel
,
boistel
, F.
boisseau
, LL.
bustellus
; dim. of
bustia
,
buxida
(OF.
boiste
), fr.
pyxida
, acc. of L.
pyxis
box, Gr.
πυξίς
. Cf.
Box
.]
1.
A dry measure, containing four pecks, eight gallons, or thirty-two quarts.
☞ The Winchester bushel, formerly used in England, contained 2150.42 cubic inches, being the volume of a cylinder 18½ inches in internal diameter and eight inches in depth. The standard bushel measures, prepared by the United States Government and distributed to the States, hold each 77.6274 pounds of distilled water, at 39.8° Fahr. and 30 inches atmospheric pressure, being the equivalent of the Winchester bushel. The imperial bushel now in use in England is larger than the Winchester bushel, containing 2218.2 cubic inches, or 80 pounds of water at 62° Fahr.
2.
A vessel of the capacity of a bushel, used in measuring; a bushel measure.
Is a candle brought to be put under a
bushel
, or under a bed, and not to be set on a candlestick?
Mark iv. 21.
3.
A quantity that fills a bushel measure;
as, a heap containing ten
bushels
of apples
.
☞ In the United States a large number of articles, bought and sold by the bushel, are measured by weighing, the number of pounds that make a bushel being determined by State law or by local custom. For some articles, as apples, potatoes, etc., heaped measure is required in measuring a bushel.
4.
A large indefinite quantity.
[Colloq.]
The worthies of antiquity bought the rarest pictures with
bushels
of gold, without counting the weight or the number of the pieces.
Dryden.
5.
The iron lining in the nave of a wheel.
[Eng.]
In the United States it is called a box. See 4th
Bush
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bushel

BUSH'EL

,
Noun.
A dry measure, containing eight gallons, or four pecks. The standard English bushel,by Stat.12 . Henry VII., contains eight gallons of wheat, each gallon eight pounds of wheat, troy weight, the pound, twelve ounces troy, the ounce, twenty sterlings, and the sterling,thirty two grains of wheat growing in the middle of the ear. The contents are 2145.6 solid inches, equivalent to 1131 ounces and 14 pennyweights troy.
The English bushel is used also in the U. States.
Bushel signifies both the quantity or capacity, and the vessel which will contain the quantity.
1.
In popular language, a large quantity indefinitely.
2.
The circle of iron in the nave of a wheel; in America, called a box. [See Bush.]

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