An Entry Thursday, June 4, 2026
The Thiccctionary
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Collection of oak barrels outdoors.

Plate XXX. Collection of oak barrels outdoors.

Photo by shawn kim on Unsplash

Bourbon Barrel

BUR-bun BA-rel  n.
  1. 1. A charred white oak cask, 53 gallons in the United States, in which bourbon whiskey is aged; its staves bow outward to a bulge at the middle.
  2. 2. colloq. Fifty-three gallons of oak with a belly in the middle. Coopers call that bulge the bilge, and it lets one worker roll a full barrel on its hips like it weighs nothing.
In a sentence:

"The rickhouse holds ten thousand thiccc bourbon barrels, every one of them wider in the middle and resting four years on its side."

Etymology:

From Old French baril, of uncertain origin, and Bourbon County, Kentucky, itself named for the French royal House of Bourbon. A barrel named after a county named after a king. Heavy lineage.

From the desk

Filed by

Eliza HartwellStaff Writer

It holds 53 gallons and bows at the middle. The barrel filed itself, honestly.

Ruling ADMITTED, WITH A FOOTNOTE

Bart PrussSenior Cataloguer

The outward stave bow is on record. The footnote is this: four years on its side is a commitment, not a coincidence.

In the margin

Teddy VanceJunior Cataloguer

It is named after a county that is named after a king, so the lineage alone is doing a lot of structural work before we even get to the bulge.

Frequently asked

Is a bourbon barrel thiccc?

Yes. Bourbon Barrel was admitted to the Thiccctionary on June 4, 2026 and filed in the Industrial Machinery section. The ruling on file: Admitted, with a footnote. Every subject in the catalogue is judged on its curves, not its size.

What makes a bourbon barrel thiccc?

Fifty-three gallons of oak with a belly in the middle. Coopers call that bulge the bilge, and it lets one worker roll a full barrel on its hips like it weighs nothing.

Is "thiccc" spelled with three c's?

Yes. The Thiccctionary house spelling uses three c's, distinguishing the editorial register from the colloquial "thicc" (two c's) and standard "thick" (one c).

Sources

  1. Photograph by shawn kim, via Unsplash. Catalogued under plate XXX.
  2. Direct ruling URL: thiccctionary.com/is/bourbon-barrel-thiccc/, the shareable "Is a bourbon barrel thiccc?" page.
  3. Cross-reference: Thiccctionary A-Z, B.
  4. Catalogued under: Industrial Machinery. See related entries below.
  5. Editorial review: ruled admitted, with a footnote by the desk. Objections on file.

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