noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as; A unit of measurement containing 100 avoirdupois pounds (about 45.4 kg). Canada, US
2. 2
   a British unit of weight equivalent to 112 pounds wordnet
3. 3
   A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as; A unit of measurement containing 112 avoirdupois pounds (eight stone or about 50.8 kg). UK, historical

   "The hundredweight of 112 avoirdupois lbs. becomes general in the period before me, and is employed for the commoner kinds of materials."

4. 4
   a United States unit of weight equivalent to 100 pounds wordnet
5. 5
   A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as; Synonym of quintal, a unit of measurement containing various amounts depending on the objects weighed. historical

Show 2 more definitions

6. 6
   a unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms in the metric system wordnet
7. 7
   A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as; Various units of ancient measurement systems consisting of 100 units usually translated as "pounds". historical

Synonyms

All synonyms

quintalcentalcentnerlong hundredweightshort hundredweightbicentennial

Example

More examples

"The abbreviation for a hundredweight is 'cwt.', standing for its former name of 'centum weight'."

Etymology

16th century, from hundred + weight.

Related phrases

avoirdupois poundslong hundredweightshort hundredweight

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.