barb

¹ American  

[bahrb] / bɑrb /

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.

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verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with a barb or barbs.

barb ² American  

[bahrb] / bɑrb /

noun

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

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barb ³ American  

[bahrb] / bɑrb /

noun

Slang.

1. barbiturate.

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barb ¹ British  

/ bɑːb /

noun

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

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barb ² British  

/ 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

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verb

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

barb ³ British  

/ bɑːb /

noun

1. a black kelpie See kelpie 1

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BARB ⁴ British  

/ bɑːb /

acronym

1. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

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barb Scientific  

/ bärb /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• barbed adjective

Etymology

Origin of barb¹

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

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 1955–60; by shortening

Example Sentences

Four spent their military service stationed near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, known for barbed wire, harsh winters and intense training.

From Barron's

We marched along a path between twisted rolls of barbed wire and through a wide gate into a compound of low tin-roofed barracks.

From Literature

And I hated living behind barbed wire, unable to go where I wanted, do what I wanted.

From Literature

“Them quills is barbed at the business end,” he said over the sound of J.W.’s squealing.

From Literature

But which in the war, in the French terminology of the war, meant “barbed wire.”

From Literature

Related Words

• criticism
• gibe
• insult
• sarcasm