gallon
noun
Simple meaning
231 cubic inches or about 3.785 liters for liquids.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
galuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡælən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
us
231 cubic inches or approximately 3.785 liters for liquids (a "U.S. liquid gallon")
britishcanada
Exactly 4.54609 liters; an imperial gallon
us
One-eighth of a U.S. bushel or approximately 4.405 liters for dry goods (a "U.S. dry gallon").
A unit of volume, equivalent to eight pints
in the pluralinformal
A large quantity (of any liquid).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 231 cubic inches or approximately 3.785 liters for liquids (a "U.S. liquid gallon")
Used this way, gallon is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- imperial gallon , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use gallon
- “The pipe burst and gallons of water flooded into the kitchen.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 quarts or 4.545 liters.
The distance traveled in a vehicle powered by one gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel.
A hat with a wide brim and a soft crown.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: 231 cubic inches
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.