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ton¹ Definition

ton (tun)

noun pl. tons, ton

  1. a unit of weight, equal to 2,000 pounds avoirdupois (907.1847 kilograms or 0.90718 metric ton or 0.8929 long ton), commonly used in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, etc.
  2. a unit of weight, equal to 2,240 pounds avoirdupois (1,016.0469 kilograms or 1.016 metric tons or 1.12 short tons), commonly used in Great Britain
  3. metric ton
  4. a unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 cubic feet (or 2.8317 cubic meters)
  5. a unit of carrying capacity of ships, usually equal to 40 cubic feet
  6. a unit for measuring displacement of ships, equal to 35 cubic feet: it is approximately equal to the volume of a long ton of sea water
  7. ☆ a unit of cooling capacity of an air conditioner, equal to 12,000 Btu per hour
  8. Informal a very large amount or number

Etymology: var. (differentiated (17th-c.) for senses “weight, measure”) of tun

ton² Definition

ton (n)

noun

style; vogue

Etymology: Fr: see tone

ton Synonyms

ton

n.

twelve hundredweight, two thousand pounds, short ton, metric ton, tonne, a thousand kilograms, long ton, shipping ton, displacement ton, measurement ton, freight ton; see also weight 1, 2.

ton Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • coal: The pit yielded 12 tons of water to every ton of coal drawn.
  • ore: At the start of the war, Germany imported about 10 million tons of iron ore from Sweden.
  • plutonium: Russia has over a thousand metric tons of highly enriched uranium, plus 150 metric tons of plutonium.
  • rubble: The site had been leveled with all the demolition rubble plus several tons of rubble found elsewhere on the site.
  • explosive: They dropped 3,000 tons of explosives on the city.
  • brick: The nuns would be down on them like a ton of bricks.

Converse of object

  • weigh: The trunk of the General Sherman tree weighs almost 1400 tons.
  • displace: The Ship displaces 4,500 tons, has a length of 133 meters.
  • exceed: China's annual burning of 960 million tons easily exceeds the 560 million tons used in the United States.

Adjective modifier

  • metric: In July, Taiwan donated 40 metric tons of rice to the people of Tanzania.
  • gross: Grace Line built four sisters in 1918, all 360 feet long and around 4800 gross tons.
  • m.: Global aid shipments exceeded 10 m. tons in most years under these two Conventions.

Modifies a noun

  • burthen: The pier, having been constructed in 1750, vessels of 150 tons burthen may ride here in safety.
  • steamship: This 1411 ton steamship was wrecked on the 16th April 1874 on her maiden voyage.
  • crane: The first set of sidings were sandwiched in-between the level crossing and platform, complete with a five ton crane.
  • truck: No amount of psychological or psychic manipulation can undo the over tightened wheel nuts on a 3.5 ton truck!
  • lorry: We carry our own custom built sound system in a 7.5 ton lorry, which consist of nearly 20,000 watts of power.
  • barge: He proposed a depth of 3 foot for 20 ton barges which would pay a charge of 3 pence a lock.

Preposition: per

  • hectare: The average annual wheat yield of these fields is five metric tons per hectare or higher.
  • acre: FACT - Charles Darwin reported that each year earthworms brought more than 10 tons per acre of castings to the surface of a field.

Browse dictionary entries near ton

  1. -tomy
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  3. Tomsk
  4. tompion
  5. tomorrow
  6. tomography
  7. tomogram
  8. tommyrot
  9. tommy gun
  10. Tommy
  1. tonal
  2. tonality
  3. tondo
  4. tone
  5. tone cluster
  6. tone color
  7. tone control
  8. tone-deaf
  9. tone down
  10. tone language