barleycorn
noun
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barleycorn
1 American
[bahr-lee-kawrn]
/ ˈbɑr liˌkɔrn /
noun
-
a grain of barley.
-
a unit of length equal to 1/3 inch (8.5 millimeters).
-
Also barley corn a type of basket weave that produces an allover geometric pattern.
Barleycorn
2
American
[bahr-lee-kawrn]
/ ˈbɑr liˌkɔrn /
noun
barleycorn
British
/ ˈbɑːlɪˌkɔːn /
noun
-
a grain of barley, or barley itself
-
an obsolete unit of length equal to one third of an inch
Etymology
Origin of barleycorn
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English; see origin at barley 1, corn 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“That should buy you a bushel o’ barleycorn.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
They had cheese and milk from the goats that shared the caves with the singers, even some oats and barleycorn and dried fruit laid by during the long summer.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Do he use wings or ride a barleycorn broom?” asked Pete, with a triumphant smile.
From The Black Wolf Pack by Beard, Daniel Carter
"Thank you," said the woman; and she gave the fairy twelve shillings, which was the price of the barleycorn.
From Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales First Series by Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian)
Some say the Schamir´ was a worm; some that it was a stone; some that it was “a creature no bigger than a barleycorn, which nothing could resist.”
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
