noun

cask

KASK/kæsk/

A barrel-shaped container for storing liquids.

The cellar holds a wooden cask filled with aging wine.

A single sturdy wooden cask resting horizontally on a low wooden cradle, with thick staves, dark metal hoops, a fitted circular end and a small wooden spigot releasing a drop of red wine.

Etymology

The underlying verb meant “shake, shatter,” and an earlier noun in the word’s history meant “potsherd.” How these meanings developed into the name of a watertight barrel is uncertain.

In context

Libranima265:17

At last the shank, in one complete rod, received its final heat; and as Perth, to temper it, plunged it all hissing into the cask of water near by

Moby Dick - Illustrated Audiobook for Focused Reading (Part 3/3)

More examples

He taps the cask to draw a sample.
Several empty casks stand beside the wall.
The brewer transfers the ale into a clean cask.

Forms

cask · casks

Similar words

barrel: Often interchangeable, but can also indicate a standard capacity.
vat: Usually a larger open or fixed vessel rather than a portable cask.