barber
noun
a person whose occupation it is to cut and dress the hair of customers, especially men, and to shave or trim the beard.
barber
1 American
[bahr-ber]
/ ˈbɑr bər /
noun
-
barbers
plural
-
a person whose occupation it is to cut and dress the hair of customers, especially men, and to shave or trim the beard.
verb (used with object)
-
barbers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barbered,
past participle, past
-
barbering
present participle
Barber
2
American
[bahr-ber]
/ ˈbɑr bər /
noun
barber
1
British
/ ˈbɑːbə /
noun
verb
-
to cut the hair of
-
to shave or trim the beard of
Barber
2
British
/ ˈbɑːbə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barbersimple
-
barberssimple
-
have barberedperfect
-
has barberedperfect
-
am barberingprogressive
-
are barberingprogressive
-
is barberingprogressive
-
have been barberingperfect progressive
-
has been barberingperfect progressive
Past
-
barberedsimple
-
had barberedperfect
-
was barberingprogressive
-
were barberingprogressive
-
had been barberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barber
1275–1325; Middle English barbour < Anglo-French; Old French barbeor, equivalent to barb ( e ) (< Latin barba beard) + -eor < Latin -ātōr- -ator
Explanation
A barber is a person whose job is cutting hair in a barbershop. Your barber might have a tendency to cut your hair a little shorter than you like. When you visit a barbershop, you sit in a special chair while the barber cuts your hair with scissors or electric clippers. Men are the most common customers of a barber, although women can also get their hair cut by barbers. Barber comes from the Anglo-French word barbour, which is rooted in the Latin word for "beard," barb. Early barbers were certified not only to cut hair, but to perform surgery and dentistry as well.
Vocabulary lists containing barber
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.
See Examples For:
"My family was low-income when I was growing up. I used to be on free school meals and my parents struggled to get me into a barber shop because of the cost of living."
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The partnership with the barber was short-lived, however, and when Johnson went to a bank to try to borrow $250 to start a company, he was turned down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The teen who filed the lawsuit is now out of custody and working to become a barber.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
On death row in Urmia’s main prison, Bakerzadeh became friends with Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, a barber from a village near the city who was also arrested after the protests for women’s rights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
It ran in the barber shop and streaked up one side of the chair where Mr. Perry was shaving someone.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
Barber will be able to have her fun on the return journey, too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Another paper by Barber and Odean found that the average active investor reliably underperforms the broader market.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
“Travel demand remains strong, and despite higher fuel prices, many people are prioritizing leisure travel during holiday breaks,” said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
“Condo buyers tend to be more rate sensitive and are also dealing with rising HOA fees, insurance costs and stricter financing conditions,” Barber said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
He was not half the man that Nute the Barber was, but the Crow’s Eye had stolen Nute.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
"It was either fast food restaurants or three barbers in a row, we wanted a nicer area."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
The crackdown comes after a new £30m High Street organised crime unit was announced in May following a BBC News investigation into illegal mini-marts, vape shops and barbers.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
In February last year, the crump of artillery was still distant, but the factories had long since shut down as the city turned into a military camp with restaurants and barbers catering to soldiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Last year, three barbers in Kunar province were jailed for three to five months for breaching the ministry's rules, according to a UN report.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Somehow, the barbers always became self-important, thinking of themselves as tough, no-nonsense guys because they cut the hair of tough, no-nonsense guys every day.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Trees barbered to resemble incense pots and traditional Yemeni daggers.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 7, 2021
“I found it exhilarating, depressing, tawdry and moving in almost equal measure. It’s a big American story that rolls across barbered lawns and then leaves you stranded in some all-night Sam’s Club of the soul.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2018
For now at least this England team can get on with presenting itself to the world, laid out in its splendid new-build sarcophagus, shaved and barbered, newly suited, eyes glazed with entropic reverie.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2012
Coaches who have barbered the rulebook like Edward Scissorhands look upon Calipari with a weird mixture of awe and disdain.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2010
Behind the gentlemen’s barbered heads, dark mahogany planks stand at attention.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Education could also extend to training those in hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy to spot potentially cancerous moles on clients and encourage them to seek medical advice.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
"I started barbering, working as a Saturday lad in Skelmersdale," says Woods.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2025
A T-level in hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy was due to begin in 2023, but was delayed before eventually being scrapped altogether.
From BBC ● May 10, 2024
He thought the teens might lose interest in barbering.
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2023
The snipping was only a kind of mental barbering, a limbering up.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
