barrel

[ bar-uhl ]

noun

1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.
2. the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31½ U.S. gallons (119 L); for petroleum, 42 U.S. gallons (159 L); for dry materials, 105 U.S. dry quarts (115 L). : bbl
3. any large quantity:

   a barrel of fun.

4. any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.
5. Ordnance. the tube of a gun.
6. Machinery. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.
7. a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.
8. Horology. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.
9. Ornithology Obsolete. a calamus or quill.
10. the trunk of a quadruped, especially of a horse, cow, etc.
11. Nautical. the main portion of a capstan, about which the rope winds, between the drumhead at the top and the pawl rim at the bottom.
12. a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.
13. any structure having the form of a barrel vault.
14. Also called throat. Automotive. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.

verb (used with object)

, bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.

1. to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.
2. to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.
3. Informal. to force to go or proceed at high speed:

   He barreled his car through the dense traffic.

verb (used without object)

, bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.

1. Informal. to travel or drive very fast:

   to barrel along the highway.

barrel

/ ˈbærəl /

noun

1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask
2. Also calledbarrelful the amount that a barrel can hold
3. a unit of capacity used in brewing, equal to 36 Imperial gallons
4. a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons
5. a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine
6. the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged
7. horology the cylindrical drum in a watch or clock that is rotated by the mainspring
8. the trunk of a four-legged animal

   the barrel of a horse

9. the quill of a feather
10. informal.
    a large measure; a great deal (esp in the phrases barrel of fun, barrel of laughs )
11. informal.
    the hollow inner side of a wave
12. over a barrel informal.
    powerless
13. scrape the barrel informal.
    to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource

verb

1. tr to put into a barrel or barrels
2. informal.
   intr; foll by along, in, etc intr to travel or move very fast
3. informal.
   to ride on the inside of a wave

Other Words From

• half-barrel noun
• un·barreled adjective
• un·barrelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrel¹

1250–1300; Middle English barell < Anglo-French baril, Old French barril < Vulgar Latin *barrīculum, equivalent to *barrīc ( a ), perhaps derivative of Late Latin barra bar ¹ + Latin -ulum -ule; compare Medieval Latin (circa 800) barriclus small cask

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrel¹

C14: from Old French baril perhaps from barre bar ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. over a barrel, Informal. in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act:

   They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.

More idioms and phrases containing barrel

see both barrels ; bottom of the barrel ; cash on the barrelhead ; like shooting fish in a barrel ; lock, stock, and barrel ; more fun than a barrel of monkeys ; over a barrel ; pork barrel ; rotten apple (spoils the barrel) .

Example Sentences

Or to produce biofuels, producing around 198 million barrels of ethanol for transportation.

From Salon

Wise had picked up two or three CDs of sea shanties, along with an album of barrel organ tunes, for inspiration.

From New York Times

Every year it clawed this money back by depositing lower royalty payments - the money it received for every barrel pumped out of the ground - with the Nigerian treasury.

From BBC

Rosebank, located west of Shetland and estimated to contain between 300 and 500 million barrels of oil, was given the green light the following autumn.

From BBC

The team fully found its footing midway through the third quarter, LeBron James barreling in transition, Anthony Davis anchoring the defense and Austin Reaves slashing through the paint.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cask
• cylinder
• drum
• pipe