The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each.
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The long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg), 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.
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The metric ton of 1000 kilograms (about 2205 lb), 10 quintals of 100 kilograms each.
› Any of various units of volume, originally…
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The measurement ton of (US) 40 or (UK) 42 cubic feet (about 1.1 or 1.2 m³).
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The register ton of 100 cubic feet (about 2.83 m³).
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Figuratively Any large, excessive, or overwhelming amount of anything.
I’ve got a ton of work to do.
I've got tons of work to do.
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A unit of thermal power equal to 12,000 BTU/h (about 3.5 kW), approximating the idealized rate of cooling provided by uniform isothermal melting of 1 short ton of ice per day at 0°C.
Their main problem is that they somehow believe that a 12-ton unit can handle this entire building.
Speed along the lane / Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five1970, Mungo Jerry, “In The Summertime”, in In The Summertime:
So the old Rocker gets out his bike To make a ton before he takes his leave.1976, “Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die”, in Ian Anderson (lyrics), Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, performed by Jethro Tull:
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Neil: How fast can this thing go then, do you reckon? Simon: Well, it's the special edition, so I reckon it could probably top a ton. Neil: Bollocks!2008, Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, “Caravan Club”, in The Inbetweeners, Series 1, Episode 5, E4:
The HSDT team, however, had some work to do, although by the end of 1972 the power car interior had been adjusted and BR had agreed to 'double-manning' with extra pay when speeds topped the ton.2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 50:
Etymology Borrowed from French ton (“manner”), from Latin tonus. Doublet of tone, tune, and tonus.
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Fashion, the current style, the vogue.
A clergyman cannot be high in state or fashion. He must not head mobs, or set the ton in dress.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 191:
If our people of ton are selfish, at any rate they show they are selfish.1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:
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Fashionable society; those in style.
[S]he thought herself incapable of being flattered by the attentions of a man she despised, because he was the reigning idol of the ton […].1790, Amelia Opie, chapter 13, in Dangers of Coquetry, volume I:
The party might consist of thirty three Of highest caste—the Brahmins of the ton.1823 December 17, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XII.—XIII.—and XIV., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto XIII, (please specify the stanza number):
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Pen was somewhat older than many of his fellow-students, and there was that about his style and appearance, which, as we have said, was rather haughty and impertinent, that stamped him as a man of ton—very unlike those pale students who were talking law to one another, and those ferocious dandies, in rowing shirts and astonishing pins and waistcoats, who represented the idle part of the little community.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 30, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC:
He had no plans to marry. Ever. And there wasn’t much point in attending ton parties if one wasn’t looking for a wife.2000, Julia Quinn, The Duke and I (Bridgerton):