Definition of "ullage"

ullage

/ˈʌl.ɪd͡ʒ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural ullages
1. In a wine bottle, the empty space between the cork and the top of the wine.
2. In a cask or barrel, the empty space, occupied by air, that is created by not completely filling the cask or barrel, or through spillage.
  Quotations
  The dry ullage will be obtained in the same manner, the dry inches being used instead of the wet.
  1840, Joseph Bateman, The Excise Officer's Manual and Improved Gauger
3. The topping-up of such a barrel with fresh wine.
4. In an industrial setting, the empty space in a tank, especially as for fuel.
  Quotations
  Upon completion of loading, all cargo tanks shall again be inspected and ullages carefully measured and recorded, with temperatures, in the Cargo Record Book, Port Log and Supplementary Loading and Discharging Report.
  1950, Marine Regulations, Esso Shipping Company, page 234
  According to the Colombian Government's report regarding this accident, the bomb explosion itself did not compromise the structural integrity of the airplane; however, the explosion punctured the CWT and ignited the Jet A fuel/air vapor in the ullage, resulting in the destruction of the airplane.
  2000 August 23, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.18.1 Accident Record and History of Fuel Tank Fires/Explosions on Airplanes”, in Aircraft Accident Report: In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, Boeing 747-131, N93119, Near East Moriches, New York, July 17, 1996‎, archived from the original on 11 July 2022, page 180
5. Additional cargo of little or no value taken on to prevent movement of shifting of the purposive cargo.
  Quotations
  […]5 hhds. rum/ 5 bbls. flour/ 1 bbl. sugar/ 9 do. pork/ 1 do. suett/ 3 do. cocoa/ 6 do. peas/ 2 ullage bbls. vinegar[…]
  1815 Niles Weekly Register volume 8, Supplement, p. 152. From an inventory of the frigate Confiance
6. (slang, obsolete, in the plural) Left-over wine surreptiously drunk by waiters as they clear away the glasses.
  Quotations
  Mopps […] was draining his vast array of wine-glasses, lest the waiters carrying them off should find any "ullages" in them for surreptitious tippling on stair-cases.
  1862, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, page 13
verb
third-person singular simple present ullages, present participle ullaging, simple past and past participle ullaged
1. To gauge the amount of empty space between the top of a cask and the level of liquid inside it.
  Quotations
  The Duties on Spirits in England are charged on the number of proof gallons they contain, which is ascertained by first “gauging” or “ullaging” the liquor, and then “trying its strength” by Sike's hydrometer, in the way already described […]
  1856, Arnold James Cooley, A Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts

Definition of "ullage"

ullage

noun

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verb

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