bush·el / ˈboŏshəl/ (abbr.: bu.) • n. 1. a measure of capacity equal to 64 pints (35.2 liters), used for dry goods. ∎ fig. a large amount: we sold it for a bushel of money.2. a container with the capacity of a bushel: packing oysters into bushel baskets. DERIVATIVES: bush·el·ful n. .

bushel in Britain, a measure of capacity equal to 8 gallons (equivalent to 36.4 litres), used for corn, fruit, liquids, etc.; in the US, a measure of capacity equal to 64 US pints (equivalent to 35.2 litres), used for dry goods. The word is recorded from Middle English, and comes from Old French boissel, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin.
hide one's light under a bushel keep quiet about one's talents or accomplishments (bushel here is a vessel used as the measure of a bushel). This originally refers to Matthew 5:15, ‘No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.’

bushel A traditional dry measure of capacity, equivalent to 80 lb of distilled water at 17 °C with a barometer reading of 30 inches, i.e. 8 imperial gallons (36.4 L); used as a measure of corn, potatoes, etc. The American (Winchester) bushel is 3% larger.

The weight of a bushel varies with the product: wheat 27 kg, maize and rye 25 kg, barley 22 kg, paddy rice 20 kg, oats 14.5 kg.

bushel dry measure of capacity. XIV. — OF. boissel (mod. boisseau); perh. of Gaul. orig.

Bushel

loosely, a large quantity or number.

Examples: bushel of curled hair on his head, 1718; of girls, 1873; of honours, 1680; of money, 1683; of venom, 1374.