Sentence:  [T]urning his head he saw, in his own words, something round and enormous, resembling a sixteen-hundred-weight sugar-<WSD>hogshead</WSD> wrapped in striped flannelette, up-ended in the middle of the large floor space in the office. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A large barrel or cask of indefinite contents, especially one containing from 100 to 140 gallons.