in olden days an English ship's capacity was measured by the number of tuns of wine it could hold

Recent Examples on the Web

To protect themselves, the animals curl their bodies into a compact pill shape, become completely dehydrated and secrete chemicals that form a protective shell called a tun. Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, "Colorful Image Lights Up Microscopic Guts of ‘Water Bear’," 13 Apr. 2020

Desiccation is when tardigrades expel the water from their bodies, tuck their legs under them, and roll up into a little ball called a tun. Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "Tardigrades Can Survive In Space, But They Have One Surprising Weakness," 16 Jan. 2020

In a commercial brewhouse, the grain is cracked in a mill then sent through a grist case, which dispenses it into a vessel called the mash tun. oregonlive, "How do you make beer? Watch #FakeBrews IPA brew-day video, then come taste it," 20 Feb. 2020

For instance, brewing the Norwegian Woods farmhouse ale ($6.50) involved putting branches, fallen leaves, Eastern red cedar and spruce clippings into the mash tun (the chamber where grain starch is converted to sugars) before adding malts. Sameer Rao, baltimoresun.com, "How is beer made? 4 Baltimore area farm breweries find success in hops, not crops.," 6 Nov. 2019

The milled grains go into a mash tun, where starches are converted to simple sugars. Providence Cicero, The Seattle Times, "Backed by his boss, John Howie, sommelier/master distiller Erik Liedholm pours his heart and talent into award-winning liquors," 20 June 2018

Stephen Lyons welds a leg onto at later tun inside the new Southern Tier and Victory brewery in South End. Ely Portillo, charlotteobserver, "‘Beer’s the hero.’ One of the biggest breweries in Charlotte is set to open soon. | Charlotte Observer," 13 Mar. 2018

Steam heats the cooking tun, which creates an even boil. John Perritano, Popular Mechanics, "How the Founding Fathers Made Their Beer," 25 June 2013

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tun.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.