WordGarden.iobushel
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /bˈʊʃəl/
US
- /ˈbʊʃəl/
Meanings
Noun
a dry-volume measure used for grain, fruit, and other produce
a very large amount or number
Beyond the definition
A bushel wasn't always just old-fashioned farm talk. For years it was a standard way to measure dry goods like grain, fruit, and other harvested produce. One bushel equals 8 dry gallons, which made it central to trade and storage.
Over time, people started using the word more loosely as a vivid way to mean "a lot." If someone says, "She brought a bushel of ideas," they usually mean many ideas. Think of overfilled baskets in a barn: that picture explains the figurative sense perfectly.
The word "bushel" has a long history in fields, mills, and marketplaces. It began as a standardized unit of dry volume used for grain, fruit, and other crops, and one bushel equals 8 dry gallons (about 35.2 liters in the U.S. dry measure). Its weight is not fixed—corn, oats, apples, and other commodities all weigh differently even if they fill the same bushel.
Because of this history, the word feels naturally linked to quantity, fullness, and abundance. Today we often hear it in figurative language, especially in phrases like "a bushel of good news" or "a bushel of laughter." These expressions usually imply far more than enough, not an actual measured container.
Think of a market day: crates stamped with harvest labels, piles heaped high, each one suggesting plenty. The figurative use carries that image into everyday English, where "bushel" means "a large or overflowing amount," even when the thing counted is not something like grain.
While the literal measurement still appears in trade and farming contexts, many speakers now use it mainly to add color and intensity. So when you hear "a bushel of luck," it often means "plenty of luck"—a generous, almost overflowing quantity.
Examples
- 1
Food quantity
We bought a bushel of apples and made pies all weekend.
- 2
Market price
At the grain market, corn was selling for $4.80 a bushel.
- 3
Large quantity
By August, the garden was producing tomatoes by the bushel.
- Phraseby the bushel
in very large amounts
See also
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- bushelnounverb
Forms
- bushelspluralnounverb