barrow

¹

[ bar-oh ]

noun

1. a wheelbarrow.
2. a flat, rectangular frame used for carrying a load, especially such a frame with projecting shafts at each end for handles; handbarrow.
3. British. a pushcart used by street vendors, especially by costermongers.

barrow

²

[ bar-oh ]

noun

1. Archaeology. tumulus ( def 1 ).
2. Chiefly British. a hill (sometimes used in combination):

   Trentishoe Barrow in North Devon; Whitbarrow in North Lancashire.

barrow

³

[ bar-oh ]

noun

1. a castrated male swine.

Barrow

⁴

[ bar-oh ]

noun

1. a seaport in Cumbria, in northwestern England. Also called Bar·row-in-Fur·ness [bar, -oh-in-, fur, -nis].
2. Point Barrow, the northern tip of Alaska: the northernmost point of the U.S.
3. a town in northern Alaska, south of Barrow Point: site of a government science-research center.

barrow

¹

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. See wheelbarrow handbarrow
2. Also calledbarrowful the amount contained in or on a barrow
3. a handcart, typically having two wheels and a canvas roof, used esp by street vendors
4. dialect.
   concern or business (esp in the phrases that's not my barrow , that's just my barrow )
5. into one's barrow dialect.
   suited to one's interests or desires

barrow

²

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a castrated pig

Barrow

³

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a river in SE Ireland, rising in the Slieve Bloom Mountains and flowing south to Waterford Harbour. Length: about 193 km (120 miles)
2. See Barrow-in-Furness Barrow Point

barrow

⁴

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a heap of earth placed over one or more prehistoric tombs, often surrounded by ditches. Long barrows are elongated Neolithic mounds usually covering stone burial chambers; round barrows are Bronze Age, covering burials or cremations

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrow¹

First recorded 1300–50; Middle English bar(e)we, berwe, from unrecorded Old English bearwe; akin to Middle High German bere; bier, bear ¹

Origin of barrow²

First recorded before 900; Middle English bergh, berg(e), berugh, bargh, Old English beorg, beorh “hill, mound, mountain”; cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Dutch, Old High German berg “mountain,” Old Norse bjarg, berg “cliff,” Armenian berdz height, Welsh bera “heap”; akin to Avestan bərəz-, bərəzant-, Sanskrit bṛhánt- high. See borough

Origin of barrow³

First recorded before 1000; Middle English barwe, barowe, baruwe, Old English bearg, bearh, berg; cognate with Old High German barug, German Barch, Old Norse bǫrgr; bore ², whose meaning is close to the semantics of cutting or splitting (referring to castration)

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrow¹

Old English bearwe ; related to Old Norse barar bier , Old High German bāra

Origin of barrow²

Old English bearg ; related to Old Norse börgr , Old High German barug

Origin of barrow³

Old English beorg ; related to Old Norse bjarg , Gothic bairgahei hill, Old High German berg mountain

Example Sentences

For hundreds of years, Norwegians thought they knew who or what had been interred in an enormous barrow on the island of Leka, which is just off the country’s northern coast, facing the Atlantic Ocean.

From New York Times

Neolithic tools, Bronze Age barrows, an Iron Age settlement, a Roman villa and Saxon hamlet have all been discovered at Stanwick Lakes, making it one of the largest archaeological sites ever excavated in the UK.

From BBC

During his many trips to abandoned mines around mid Wales he has found a child's footprint, hobnail boots, tools, miners' gloves and a 170-year-old barrow "still where the miner originally left it".

From BBC

The family scraped a living selling vegetables from barrows.

From BBC

Aged 15, he was selling mobile phone accessories from a barrow in the capital Lagos and sending money home.

From BBC