barbecue
Americannoun
-
barbecues
plural
-
pieces of meat, fowl, fish, or the like, roasted or smoked over fire, especially when basted in a barbecue sauce.
The restaurant serves amazing barbecue.
-
a framework, such as a grill or a spit, for cooking meat or vegetables over an open fire.
Make sure you clean off the barbecue so it's ready to use when we go camping.
-
a meal, usually in the open air and often as a social gathering, at which meats are roasted on a grill or over an open hearth or pit.
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any social gathering centered around food, especially meat, that is cooked over fire using a grill, spit, smoker, or the like.
Our weekend barbecue was lively until it started to rain.
-
a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.
verb (used with object)
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barbecues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barbecued,
past participle, past
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barbecuing
present participle
-
to broil, smoke, or roast (meat, fowl, fish, or the like) whole or in large pieces over an open fire, using a spit, grill, smoker, or the like, often seasoning with vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper.
They barbecued a chicken and some steaks for dinner.
-
to cook (sliced or diced meat, fowl, fish, or the like) in a highly seasoned sauce.
verb (used without object)
-
barbecues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barbecued,
past participle, past
-
barbecuing
present participle
noun
-
a meal cooked out of doors over an open fire
-
an outdoor party or picnic at which barbecued food is served
-
a grill or fireplace used in barbecuing
-
the food so cooked
verb
-
to cook (meat, fish, etc) on a grill, usually over charcoal and often with a highly seasoned sauce
-
to cook (meat, fish, etc) in a highly seasoned sauce
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barbecuesimple
-
barbecuessimple
-
have barbecuedperfect
-
has barbecuedperfect
-
am barbecuingprogressive
-
are barbecuingprogressive
-
is barbecuingprogressive
-
have been barbecuingperfect progressive
-
has been barbecuingperfect progressive
Past
-
barbecuedsimple
-
had barbecuedperfect
-
was barbecuingprogressive
-
were barbecuingprogressive
-
had been barbecuingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barbecue
First recorded in 1655–65; from Spanish barbacoa, from Arawak (perhaps Taíno ) barbacoa “a raised frame of sticks”
Explanation
A barbecue is an outdoor party where food is cooked on a grill or over a fire. Your family might host a barbecue every summer to celebrate the end of the school year. If you're invited to a barbecue, you'll probably be served meat that's been slowly cooked or smoked over a fire, served with sweet and spicy barbecue sauce. Sometimes this kind of food itself is called barbecue, and the oven or grill that's used is also a barbecue. This word dates from the 17th century, from the Spanish barbacoa, which probably stems from the Arawakan barbakoa, "framework of sticks" used to cure meat.
Vocabulary lists containing barbecue
Memorial Day Words
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
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Ben Zimmer's 30 Great American Words
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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:
Found along highways across Texas, in the South and as far west as Colorado, Buc-ee’s travel centers are revered for their barbecue, bathrooms and beaver-themed paraphernalia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Additional 2- and 4-ounce sides of Cajun barbecue chicken, jerk chicken and suya beef can be added for $2 and $4.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
It also featured Moroccan sinks, a pool and spa, a stone fire pit, and a barbecue area.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Describing Britain as "a tinderbox" with 37 blazes nationwide on Friday, the prime minister warned against lighting fires outdoors, as the government introduced a ban on selling disposable barbecue equipment.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
It was getting dark and almost everybody was hanging around their barbecue pits where they’d built little fires and were roasting hot dogs or burgers or marshmallows.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Around that time, he took on the role of grill master at the offensive line barbecues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Sample some new snacks: Summer barbecues are rife with potato-chip mediocrity.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
Hosted at King Charles III’s private estate in Aberdeenshire, the vacation is normally a time for the wider royal clan to get together, decompress, have barbecues and go hunting, away from the public eye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The second-year running back has made it a priority to get close with linemen by talking more and going to their barbecues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
We’ve got the barbecues, and we arrange for Ritchie and a few of his friends to guard the beer while the sermon’s on.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Frank barbecued ribs in the yard, his mom served birria with rice and beans, and some 50 friends and classmates showed up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
I’ll always prefer Mom’s barbecued chicken, fried chicken and French fries, but I have branched out, trying an array of new, relatively tamer foods, ranging from albacore tuna to zucchini.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
The team looked at a lot of images of barbecued meat during the design process, and even took a blowtorch to steak to experiment with color and texture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Orion wares include 58 tortillas, 43 cups of coffee, barbecued beef brisket and five types of hot sauce.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
I unpacked my barbecued beef sandwich, and from a paper sack he took out a turkey sandwich.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
Dorothy Westerinen celebrated the Fourth of July the way she usually does, by barbecuing and hanging out around the pool with her wife and close friends.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
"I can combine barbecuing with my previous work experience, which will be an advantage for me," Xu said after attending a class on editing videos for Douyin -- China's version of TikTok.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
“And my other favorite time is sunset in the upper bedroom or downstairs barbecuing something outdoors. The views really are spectacular.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
There was a picnic scene too, with Prince Philip and the Princess Royal seen barbecuing sausages.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
He also liked barbecuing in his favorite stain-splattered red and white checked apron.
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
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.
