double-barreled

American  

[duhb-uhl-bar-uhld] / ˈdʌb əlˈbær əld /

adjective

1. having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.

2. serving a double purpose or having two parts or aspects.

   a double-barreled attack on corruption.

---

Etymology

Origin of double-barreled

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

I remember wondering whether the literary memoirist I so enjoyed could present a big-picture argument with all the necessary historical asides while carrying forward a heavy, double-barreled thesis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

The inflection point for the fashion and beauty industry came with the double-barreled ascent of Jennifer Lopez, who conquered both the pop charts and the big screen in the latter part of the ’90s.

From Salon • Oct. 20, 2025

But this year’s ceremony, emceed by ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel, had the double-barreled box office bang of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” going for it.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2024

Wielding a double-barreled shotgun in his review for The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden dismissed Sparks’s book as “treacly” and called the film “a high-toned cinematic greeting card.”

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2024

She kept a twelve-gauge double-barreled Winchester Model 21 behind the woodbox, but we figured it had been Grandpa Dowdel’s for shooting ducks.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck