Punch"eon (?), n. [F. poinçon awl, bodkin, crown, king-post, fr. L. punctio a pricking, fr. pungere to prick. See Pungent, and cf. Punch a tool, Punction.]

1. A figured stamp, die, or punch, used by goldsmiths, cutlers, etc.

2. (Carp.) A short, upright piece of timber in framing; a short post; an intermediate stud. Oxf. Gloss.

3. A split log or heavy slab with the face smoothed; as, a floor made of puncheons. [U.S.] Bartlett.

4. [F. poinçon, perh. the same as poinçon an awl.] A cask containing, sometimes 84, sometimes 120, gallons.

• A figured stamp, die, or punch, used by goldsmiths, cutlers, etc.
  
• (Carpentry) A short, upright piece of timber in framing; a short post; an intermediate stud.
  
• A split log or heavy slab with the face smoothed; as, a floor made of puncheons.
  
• A cask containing, sometimes 84, sometimes 120, gallons.
  
• An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 84 wine gallons; a tercian.
       Quotations
       *1882: Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons. — James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205.