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.

---

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

---

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).

---

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

Floyd has to be able to catch enough birds to sustain his dietary needs, Moore says, and suspects that catching them is like shooting fish in a barrel given the thousands of birds there.

From BBC

Without imports, he said, Cuba faces a daily oil shortfall of about 60,000 barrels to meet its energy needs.

From Los Angeles Times

An attack on Iran could drive oil prices above $80 a barrel and jeopardize Middle Eastern economic diversification efforts.

From Barron's

An attack on Iran could drive oil prices above $80 a barrel and jeopardize Middle Eastern economic diversification efforts.

From Barron's

“They’re the last in the barrel, so don’t ask for more, and don’t wake me in the night.”

From Literature

Related Words

• cask
• cylinder
• drum
• pipe