barrel

American  

[bar-uhl] / ˈbær əl /

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.

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verb (used with object)

barreled, barreling barrelled, barrelling

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)

barreled, barreling barrelled, barrelling

1. Informal.  to travel or drive very fast.

   to barrel along the highway.

idioms

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

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

barrel British  

/ ˈbærəl /

noun

1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask

2. Also called: barrelful.  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. informal  powerless

13. informal  to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource

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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

barrel More Idioms  

1. 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).

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Other Word Forms

• half-barrel noun
• unbarreled adjective
• unbarrelled adjective

Etymology

Origin of barrel

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

Example Sentences

Still, expectations for a supply surplus in 2026 have intensified, with the International Energy Agency predicting that global oil supply will outpace demand by 4 million barrels per day next year.

From MarketWatch

She adds that crude oil prices remain vulnerable and any serious progress in peace talks would unleash more Russian barrels into an already oversupplied market and weigh on oil prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

Flores, Sable’s chief executive, wagered that he could patch a leaky pipeline that once caused a disastrous oil spill, ship tens of thousands of barrels of crude to California’s refineries—and earn a windfall.

From The Wall Street Journal

Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey predicted a 1.3 million barrel decline.

From The Wall Street Journal

The removal of the two-child benefit limit will mean no longer "scraping the barrel every month" to afford bills and food, a mother-of-three has said.

From BBC

Related Words

• cask
• cylinder
• drum
• pipe