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bush·el 1 (bshəl)
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n.
1. Abbr. bu.
a. A unit of volume or capacity in the US Customary System, used in dry measure and equal to 4 pecks, 2,150.42 cubic inches, or 35.24 liters.
b. A unit of volume or capacity in the British Imperial System, used in dry and liquid measure and equal to 2,219.36 cubic inches or 36.37 liters.
2. A container with the capacity of a bushel.
3. Informal A large amount; a great deal: We have bushels of time, so relax.
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman bussel, variant of Old French boissiel, from boisse, one sixth of a bushel, of Celtic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
bush·el 2 (bshəl)
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tr.v. bush·eled, bush·el·ing, bush·els or bush·elled or bush·el·ling
To alter or mend (clothing).
[Probably from German bosseln, to do odd jobs, alteration (perhaps influenced by bosseln, to emboss) of basteln, to rig up, mend, probably from Bast, bast fiber (used to make rope), from Middle High German bast, from Old High German.]
bushel·er, bushel·ler n.
bushel·man (-mən) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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