barb

¹

[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

²

[bahrb]

noun

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

barb

³

[bahrb]

noun

Slang.

1. barbiturate.

barb

¹

/ 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

²

/ bɑːb /

noun

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

barb

³

/ bɑːb /

noun

1. a black kelpie See kelpie 1

BARB

⁴

/ bɑːb /

acronym

1. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

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 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of barb¹

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

Origin of barb²

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

Origin of barb³

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

Example Sentences

Jeffries told Lawler to "keep your mouth shut" as the two traded barbs and later called the Republican a "malignant clown."

Read more on Barron's

Not long ago, track spikes were little more than barbed leather socks.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, shot back with some barbs of his own Thursday morning.

Read more on Barron's

Along the way, we get some classics, like the image of a burlesque dancer "glowing like the end of a cigarette"; or comparing a critic's barbs to "a toy chihuahua barking from a tiny purse".

Read more on BBC

As politicians traded barbs, US government services started to grind to a halt and thousands of federal workers stayed home.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• criticism 
• gibe 
• insult 
• sarcasm