barrel

[bar-uhl]

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.

barrel

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• half-barrel noun
• unbarreled adjective
• unbarrelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrel¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrel¹

C14: from Old French baril perhaps from barre _bar ¹

Idioms and Phrases

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.

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).

Example Sentences

In 2020 she broke the story that barrels of DDT’s toxic waste, last sent to the ocean floor decades ago by its biggest manufacturer, Montrose, were closer to Southern California’s shores than previously thought.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Northern Australia is on high alert as a tropical cyclone barrels down on the state, as authorities warn the worst of the storm will strike on Saturday.

Read more on Barron's

They said they spotted what was later revealed to be a “break barrel air rifle” between his legs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The new U.S. measures have also left tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned oil stranded at sea and made shipping crude more expensive.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Labor Department’s release Thursday of the belated September jobs report reduced the haze, and despite signs of slowing, the U.S. economy isn’t barreling toward a cliff.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cask 
• cylinder 
• drum 
• pipe