Word
gallon
Phoneticsgal·lon
US/ˈɡæɫən/
UK/ɡˈælən/
Definitions
01unit of volume
n. a unit for measuring liquids. In the US, it is about 3.8 litres, and in the UK, it is about 4.5 litres.
n. a unit of liquid volume. The US liquid gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches, whereas the imperial gallon is defined as 4.54609 litres.
“The car's tank holds about twelve gallons of petrol.”
“With fuel prices rising, many commuters are calculating exactly how many miles they can get out of a single gallon of petrol.”
Usage
Often used when talking about fuel or milk.
02large amount
n. a very large amount of a liquid.
n. a large quantity of liquid, used figuratively in the plural to emphasise volume.
“We drank gallons of water after our long hike in the sun.”
“The children managed to spill gallons of paint across the new carpet before anyone noticed what they were doing.”
Informal
Usage
Almost always used in the plural form 'gallons'.
Real-World Examples
“Based on its size and colour, Amos estimates that the spill is "well over" 100,000 US gallons (380,000 litres) of oil.” “Yet online images show Russian drivers sitting in cars for hours waiting to get a few gallons of fuel.” “Idling in the United States uses more than 6 billion gallons of fuel at an estimated cost of more than US$20 billion to consumers and businesses each year.” Etymology
From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (“liquid measure”) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (“measure of wine”), from Vulgar Latin galla (“vessel”), possibly from Gaulish galla, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“goblet”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”), Sanskrit कलश (kalaśa, “jar, pitcher; measure of liquid”). Related to Old French gille (“wine measure”) (from Medieval Latin gillō (“earthenware jar”)), Old French jale (“bowl”), Old French jaloie (“measure of capacity”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/gallon