Dictionary Definition
strickle
Noun
1 an implement for sharpening scythes
2 a tool used to level off grain or other
granular material in a measure
3 a tool used in a foundry to shape a mold in
sand
Verb
1 form with a strickle; "strickle in sand"
2 smooth with a strickle; "strickle the grain in
the measure" [syn: strike]
Extensive Definition
Dry measures are units
of volume used to measure
bulk commodities which are not liquid. They are typically used in
agriculture,
agronomy, and commodity
markets to measure grain, dried beans, and dried and fresh fruit
(e.g. a peck of apples is a
retail unit); formerly also salt pork and fish. They are also used in
fishing for clams, crabs, etc. and formerly for many
other substances (e.g. coal, cement, lime) which were typically
shipped and delivered in a standardized container such as a
barrel.
They are often confused or conflated with units
of mass, assuming a nominal
density, and indeed many
units nominally of dry measure have become standardized as units of
mass (see bushel).
Metric units
In the original metric
system, the unit of dry volume was the stere, but this is not part of the
modern metric
system; the liter and
the cubic
meter (m³) are now used. However, the stere is still widely
used for firewood.
Imperial and U.S. customary units
In Imperial
and U.S.
customary units, most units of volume exist both in a dry and a
liquid version, with the same name, but different values: the dry
hogshead, dry barrel,
dry gallon, dry quart, dry pint, etc. The bushel and the peck are only used for dry
goods.
Many of the units are associated with particular
goods, so for instance the dry hogshead has been used for sugar and
for tobacco and the peck for apples. There are also special
measures for special goods, such as the cord
of wood, the sack,
the bale of cotton, the
box
of fruit, etc.
Because it is difficult to measure actual volume
and easy to measure mass, many of these units are now also defined
as units of mass, specific to each commodity, so a bushel of apples
is a different weight from a bushel of wheat (weighed at a specific
moisture level). Indeed, the bushel, the best-known unit of dry
measure because it is the quoted unit in commodity
markets, is in fact a unit of mass in those contexts.
Conversely, the ton used in specifying tonnage and in freight
calculations is often a volume measurement rather than a mass
measurement.
US dry measures are 16% larger than liquid
measures; this is advantageous when cooking with fresh produce, as
a dry pint of vegetables after trimming ends up being about a
cooking (liquid) pint.
Struck and heaped measurement
The volume of bulk goods is usually measured by
filling a standard container, so the containers' names and the
units' names are often the same, and indeed both are called
"measures". Normally, a level or struck measure is assumed, with
the excess being swept off level ("struck") with the measure's
brim—the stick used for this is called a "strickle".
Sometimes heaped or heaping measures are used, with the commodity
heaped in a cone above the measure.
U.S. units of dry measure
strickle in Japanese:
乾量単位・液量単位