Definition of "picul" [pic•ul]

• Any of various units of weight used in southeast Asia and China and equal to 100 catties, especially a Chinese unit equal to 133 1/3 pounds (about 60 kilograms). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The cotton, in the seed, is sold by the picul, which is"
• "“In the central provinces of China, especially in Hubei and Hunan, nearly every government organization has come to depend on opium revenue for maintenance,” said one authority, citing figures from a particular locality in which one picul approximately 140 pounds of opium cost $400."
• "Given these favorable circumstances, the village-leasehold auction of 1651 brought in more revenues than any auction up to that point. 82 But the price of venison in China continued to drop, falling below 10 reals per picul."