keg
/kɛɡ/ noun, verb
Forms kegs kegging kegged cag kag kager
- noun A round, traditionally wooden container of lesser capacity than a barrel, often used to store beer.
- verb (transitive) To store in a keg.
- verb (UK) The pulling down of someone's trousers or kegs, oftentimes as a kind of bullying or prank.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English kag, from Old Norse kaggi (“keg”), likely a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kagô (“bush, branch, stalk, stump”). Cognate with Icelandic kaggi (“keg; cask”), Norwegian kagg (“keg”), Swedish kagge (“keg”), Low German kag (“vessel; craft”), Dutch kaag (“vessel; craft”). Compare also English cag and chag.
The modern form keg with /ɛ/ is due to a dialectal raising of /a///æ/ to /ɛ/ before velars (cf. fleg); the expected form is preserved in dialectal /kæɡ/, while /keɪɡ/ reflects further raising that occurred in some dialects.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Earlier cag, Icel. kaggi; akin to Sw. kagge.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “keg”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details