barb

¹

[bahrb]

noun

Slang.

1. barbiturate.

barb

²

[bahrb]

noun

1. one of a breed of horses raised originally in Barbary.

barb

³

[bahrb]

noun

1. a point or pointed part projecting backward from a main point, as of a fishhook or arrowhead.

   Synonyms: spicule, prickle, snag, barbule, prong, spike, spur

2. an obviously or openly unpleasant or cutting remark.

3. Botany, Zoology.,  a hooked or sharp bristle.

4. Ornithology.,  one of the processes attached to the rachis of a feather.

5. one of a breed of domestic pigeons, similar to the carriers or homers, having a short, broad bill.

6. any of numerous, small, Old World cyprinid fishes of the genera Barbus and Puntius, often kept in aquariums.

7. Veterinary Pathology.,  Usually barbs. a small protuberance under the tongue in horses and cattle, especially when inflamed and swollen.

8. Also a linen covering for the throat and breast, formerly worn by women mourners and now only by some nuns.

9. Obsolete.,  a beard.

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with a barb or barbs.

barb

¹

/ bɑːb /

noun

1. a breed of horse of North African origin, similar to the Arab but less spirited

BARB

²

/ bɑːb /

acronym

1. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

barb

³

/ bɑːb /

noun

1. a black kelpie See kelpie 1

barb

⁴

/ bɑːb /

noun

1. a subsidiary point facing in the opposite direction to the main point of a fish-hook, harpoon, arrow, etc, intended to make extraction difficult

2. any of various pointed parts, as on barbed wire

3. a cutting remark; gibe

4. any of the numerous hairlike filaments that form the vane of a feather

5. a beardlike growth in certain animals

6. a hooked hair or projection on certain fruits

7. any small cyprinid fish of the genus Barbus (or Puntius ) and related genera, such as B. conchonius ( rosy barb )

8. (usually plural) any of the small fleshy protuberances beneath the tongue in horses and cattle

9. a white linen cloth forming part of a headdress extending from the chin to the upper chest, originally worn by women in the Middle Ages, now worn by nuns of some orders

10. obsolete,  a beard

verb

1. (tr) to provide with a barb or barbs

barb

1. A sharp point projecting backward, as on the stinger of a bee.

2. One of the hairlike branches on the shaft of a feather.

Other Word Forms

• barbed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of barb¹

First recorded in 1955–60; by shortening

Origin of barb²

First recorded in 1600–10; from French barbe, shortened form of Italian barbero “Barbary steed,” equivalent to Barber(ia) “Barbary” + -o masculine noun suffix

Origin of barb³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English barbe “beard, pleated cloth, barb (of an arrow),” from Middle French, Old French barbe, from Latin barba beard

Word History and Origins

Origin of barb¹

C17: from French barbe , from Italian barbero a Barbary (horse)

Origin of barb²

C19: named after one that was named Barb after a winning racehorse

Origin of barb³

C14: from Old French barbe beard, point, from Latin barba beard

Example Sentences

Instead, a building at an airport, lying behind barbed wire and security checkpoints.

Read more on BBC

Between the outpost and the ruins rises a sand berm about two stories high and topped with barbed wire.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Though the military presence has since mostly relocated farther north and behind barbed wire, a bizarre, lingering, nostalgic version of an older America persists there.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As the convoy departed Hajin and headed back to the SDF base, it passed former American encampments that sat empty in the desert behind thick barriers topped with barbed wire.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Teams and leagues sprouted within the camps, an arrangement described by one player as “baseball behind barbed wire.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• criticism 
• gibe 
• insult 
• sarcasm