barbecue

or bar·be·que, bar-b-que

[ bahr-bi-kyoo ]

noun

1. pieces of meat, fowl, fish, or the like, roasted or smoked over fire, especially when basted in a barbecue sauce:

   The restaurant serves amazing barbecue.

2. a framework, such as a grill or a spit, for cooking meat or vegetables over an open fire:

   Make sure you clean off the barbecue so it's ready to use when we go camping.

3. a meal, usually in the open air and often as a social gathering, at which meats are roasted on a grill or over an open hearth or pit.
4. any social gathering centered around food, especially meat, that is cooked over fire using a grill, spit, smoker, or the like:

   Our weekend barbecue was lively until it started to rain.

5. a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.

verb (used with object)

, bar·be·cued, bar·be·cu·ing.

1. to broil, smoke, or roast (meat, fowl, fish, or the like) whole or in large pieces over an open fire, using a spit, grill, smoker, or the like, often seasoning with vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper:

   They barbecued a chicken and some steaks for dinner.

2. to cook (sliced or diced meat, fowl, fish, or the like) in a highly seasoned sauce.

verb (used without object)

, bar·be·cued, bar·be·cu·ing.

1. to cook over an open fire using an instrument such as a grill, spit, or smoker, or to host a social gathering where food is cooked in this manner:

   If the weather's nice, we'll barbecue in the backyard.

barbecue

/ ˈbɑːbɪˌkjuː /

noun

1. a meal cooked out of doors over an open fire
2. an outdoor party or picnic at which barbecued food is served
3. a grill or fireplace used in barbecuing
4. the food so cooked

verb

1. to cook (meat, fish, etc) on a grill, usually over charcoal and often with a highly seasoned sauce
2. to cook (meat, fish, etc) in a highly seasoned sauce

Other Words From

• bar·be·cu·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbecue¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Spanish barbacoa, from Arawak (perhaps Taíno ) barbacoa “a raised frame of sticks”

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbecue¹

C17: from American Spanish barbacoa , probably from Taino: frame made of sticks

Example Sentences

My preferred brand, David, comes coated in dill pickle, ranch, and barbecue powder, but in my opinion, sunflower seeds shouldn’t be any particular flavor.

From Eater

Usually, most of the big summer blockbusters have already come out, people are squeezing in their last beach trips and barbecues, and movie theaters are looking ahead to the hefty fall season.

From Vox

I wouldn’t want to cook a complex meal on it, but it’s perfect for burgers, hot dogs, and other basic barbecue foods.

From Outside Online

The rally included a community cleanup, food drive, music, barbecue, a bouncy house, healing circle and voter registration booth, reports Kenosha News.

From Fortune

That means no backyard barbecues or parties on Fourth of July.

From Voice of San Diego

So, the Southside Smokehouse is more than a barbecue pit, a burger shack, or a Cajun kitchen.

From The Daily Beast

We remember that time a flight attendant told us at a barbecue that if the bell tones four times, things are serious.

From The Daily Beast

He went on to open a dry cleaning business, barbecue restaurant, and liquor store.

From The Daily Beast

The word primitive does not do justice to the elemental nature of dining in one of the great barbecue parlors of this region.

From The Daily Beast

Then again, is there really ever a bad time for slow-cooked barbecue, hot jazz and cool blues music?

From The Daily Beast

James Murray, mayor of Alexandria, La., was killed while attempting to suppress a disturbance at a barbecue.

From Project Gutenberg

Now he plans to hold a big barbecue en send out invitations.

From Project Gutenberg

Later the Cherokee Indians changed the council fire into a barbecue, where they roasted whole beefs in pits of glowing coals.

From Project Gutenberg

A fire of hard-wood had been burning in it for hours, the preliminary to a gigantic barbecue of fat oxen.

From Project Gutenberg

They were having a barbecue; that is, they were roasting oxen whole on great spits; and a horse race was to be run.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cookout
• picnic