Meaning of chaldron | Babel Free

Definitions

An old English dry measure, containing four quarters. At London, 36 bushels heaped up, or its equivalent weight, and more than twice as much at Newcastle. Now used exclusively for coal and coke.

archaic

Examples

“The celdra or chaldron is employed in some places, especially at Finchale or Wearmouth. It appears to contain four quarters or thereabouts, and is perhaps the original measure of which the quarter is a fraction.”

“The visitors recorded that it [Locomotion] could haul 20 wagons, each holding one Newcastle chaldron of coal (53 cwt.).”

“????, De Colange. In the United States the chaldron is ordinarily 2,940 lbs, but at New York it is 2,500 lbs.”

“Another site of early railway enterprise to be upgraded to 2* before benefiting from restoration (which would remove it from the 2024 at-risk register) is the S&DR [Stockton & Darlington Railway] coal drops, located in Shildon's Locomotive museum. After it was upgraded in 2021 […], 2022 research by Historic England found that the drops, constructed in 1847, were the world's first attempt at mechanising locomotive refuelling. The drops worked by chaldron wagons being taken up the incline, and their loads dropped down chutes into tenders of steam locomotives waiting below.”

“Hovv fare I? troth, for ſixpence a meale, vvench, as vvel as heart can vviſh, vvith Calves Chaldrons, and Chitterlings, beſides I haue a Punck after ſupper, as good as a roſted Apple.”

“To Lift a Swan. […] [P]lace the tvvo halves, ſlit ſide dovvnvvard, ſtrevv ſome Salt and Cinnamon about it, and ſerve up Chaldron Sauce, in Saucers, Garniſhing vvith VVater-Lillies, VVater-Creſſes, or any ſuitable flovvers, or greens, grovving in or by the vvater.”

“Chitterling. […] The small entrails of a hog, from their wrinkled appearance. […] [German] kalbs gekröse, a calf's pluck or chaldron; gänse gekröse, a goose's giblets, called chitters in the N[orth] of E[ngland].”

CEFR level