ullage

English

Etymology

From Middle English ulage, from Anglo-Norman ulliage, from *ullier (“to fill a partially empty cask”), from Old French oel (“bunghole”, literally “eye”), from Latin oculus (“eye”). See French ouillage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌl.ɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈʌl.əd͡ʒ/, /ˈjul.ɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈjul.əd͡ʒ/
• Rhymes: -ʌlɪdʒ

Noun

ullage (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.
   • 1840, Joseph Bateman, The Excise Officer's Manual and Improved Gauger:

     The dry ullage will be obtained in the same manner, the dry inches being used instead of the wet.

3. The topping-up of such a barrel with fresh wine.

   Synonym: ulling

4. In an industrial setting, the empty space in a tank, especially as for fuel.
   • 1950, Marine Regulations, Esso Shipping Company, page 234:

     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.

   • 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^[1], archived from the original on 11 July 2022, page 180:

     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.

5. Additional cargo of little or no value taken on to prevent movement of shifting of the purposive cargo.
   • 1815 Niles Weekly Register volume 8, Supplement, p. 152. From an inventory of the frigate Confiance:

     […]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[…]

6. (slang, obsolete, in the plural) Left-over wine surreptitiously drunk by waiters as they clear away the glasses.
   • 1862, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, page 13:

     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.

Derived terms

• ullage burn
• ullage gas
• ullage motor

 

Verb

ullage (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.
   • 1856, Arnold James Cooley, A Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts:

     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 […]