Barrel vs. Keg: What's the Difference?

Barrel and Keg Definitions
Barrel
A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.
Keg
A small cask or barrel with a capacity of about 30 gallons (114 liters).
Barrel
The quantity that a barrel with a given or standard capacity will hold.
Keg
Such a container and its contents.
Barrel
Abbr. bar. or bbl. or bl. Any of various units of volume or capacity. In the US Customary System it varies, as a liquid measure, from 31 to 42 gallons (117 to 159 liters) as established by law or usage.
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Keg
A unit of weight used for nails, equal to 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms).
Barrel
The thicker portion of a baseball bat, from which the most powerful hits are struck.
Keg
To put or store in a small cask or barrel.
Barrel
The cylindrical part of a firearm through which the bullet travels.
Keg
A round, traditionally wooden container of lesser capacity than a barrel, often used to store beer.
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Barrel
A cylinder that contains a movable piston.
Keg
(transitive) To store in a keg.
Barrel
The drum of a capstan.
Keg
A small cask or barrel.
Barrel
The cylinder within the mechanism of a timepiece that contains the mainspring.
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Keg
The quantity contained in a keg
Barrel
The trunk of a quadruped animal, such as a horse or cow.
Keg
Small cask or barrel
Barrel
The tubular space inside a wave when it is breaking.
Barrel
(Informal) A large quantity
A barrel of fun.
Barrel
(Slang) An act or instance of moving rapidly, often recklessly, in a motor vehicle.
Barrel
Resembling or similar to a barrel, as in shape
A barrel chest.
Barrel hips.
Barrel
To put or pack in a barrel.
Barrel
To move or progress rapidly
"That the European Union barreled ahead was not surprising" (Richard W. Stevenson).
Barrel
(countable) A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (head). Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
A cracker barrel
Barrel
Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun#Noun holds. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)
Barrel
The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.
Barrel
A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case
The barrel of a windlass;
The barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.
Barrel
A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
Barrel
(television) A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.
Barrel
(archaic) A tube.
Barrel
(zoology) The hollow basal part of a feather.
Barrel
(music) The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and looks rather like a barrel (1).
Barrel
(surfing) A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.
Barrel
A waste receptacle.
Throw it into the trash barrel.
Barrel
The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.
Barrel
(obsolete) A jar.
Barrel
(biology) Any of the dark-staining regions in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, etc., where somatosensory inputs from the contralateral side of the body come in from the thalamus.
Barrel
(baseball) A statistic derived from launch angle and exit velocity of a ball hit in play.
Barrel
(transitive) To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.
Barrel
(intransitive) To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.
He came barrelling around the corner and I almost hit him.
Barrel
(intransitive) To assume the shape of a barrel; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit barrel distortion, where the sides bulge outwards.
Barrel
A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads; as, a cracker barrel. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
Barrel
The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 31½ gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds.
Barrel
A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.
Barrel
A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
Barrel
A jar.
Barrel
The hollow basal part of a feather.
Barrel
To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.
Barrel
A tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired
Barrel
A cylindrical container that holds liquids
Barrel
A bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends
Barrel
The quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold
Barrel
Any of various units of capacity;
A barrel of beer is 31 gallons and a barrel of oil is 42 gallons
Barrel
Put in barrels