Barbary Coast


noun
  1. the Mediterranean coastline of the former Barbary States: former pirate refuge.

  2. the waterfront district of San Francisco in the 19th century, notorious for its cheap bars and nightclubs, prostitutes, gambling houses, and high incidence of crime.

Words Nearby Barbary Coast

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Barbary Coast in a sentence

  • When our little fleet arrived off the Barbary Coast, Morocco and Tunis stopped grumbling and soon came to terms.

  • He and five of his lieutenants had been arrested after an enthusiastic meeting on the Barbary Coast.

    Port O' Gold | Louis John Stellman
  • At that time the relations of the United States with the piratical powers of the Barbary Coast were most unsatisfactory.

    Twelve Naval Captains | Molly Elliot Seawell
  • He had already, in 1412, three years before the reduction of Ceuta, sent a ship to make discoveries on the Barbary Coast.

    The Lusiad | Lus de Cames
  • Both perished here, but some of their crew escaped to the Barbary Coast, and were made slaves.

British Dictionary definitions for Barbary Coast

Barbary Coast

noun
  1. the Barbary Coast a historic name for the Mediterranean coast of North Africa: a centre of piracy against European shipping from the 16th to the 19th centuries

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012