ton

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Any large, excessive, or overwhelming amount of anything.

   I’ve got a ton of work to do.

2. 2
   noun

   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.

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   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 […].

5. 5
   noun

   a British unit of weight equivalent to 2240 pounds

6. 6
   noun

   a United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds

7. 7
   noun

   Any of various units of mass, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

8. 8
   noun

   Any of various units of volume, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

Etymology

Borrowed from French ton (“manner”), from Latin tonus. Doublet of tone, tune, and tonus.