long hundredweight
- noun
- /lɒŋ ˈhʌndrədweɪt/
- UK
:
cien largo
- One long hundredweight is equivalent to 112 pounds or eight stone.
Examples
-
Coal was often sold by the long hundredweight in nineteenth-century Britain.
-
A long hundredweight is equivalent to 112 pounds.
-
The shipment totalled twenty long hundredweights, as recorded on the invoice.
-
He lifted a long hundredweight of potatoes with ease.
-
In traditional markets, farmers often sell produce by the long hundredweight.
-
The weight of the bag was listed as three long hundredweights on the shipping label.
-
During the measurement, they found the total weight was five long hundredweights.
Synonyms
1
8.4
A weight of 112 pounds used in Britain
A British unit of weight equal to 112 pounds about 51 kilograms
Antonyms
- Specialized
An American measure of weight equal to 100 pounds, about 45 kilograms
How Heavy
Surface Forms
Morphology
long + hundredweight
The phrase is built from the adjective 'long' plus the unit 'hundredweight', so a learner who knows both words can infer it names a particular variant of the hundredweight (likely the larger or 'long' form). However, the specific conventional value (112 pounds) and the historical/measurement distinction signified by 'long' are lexicalized facts learners cannot deduce from the parts alone, making the transparency partial.
Etymology
Long hundredweight comes from an old British way of measuring weight: a 'hundredweight' there was eight stones of 14 pounds each, so it came to be 112 pounds. That's why the long hundredweight is 'longer' than 100 and now means 112 pounds.