a style of cooking meat by applying low heat for a long time, especially over an open fire or in a below-ground pit: the meat is often served shredded or chopped, with tortillas, in burritos, etc.
meat that has been cooked slowly on low heat, especially over an open fire or in a below-ground pit.
an Indigenous people of Ecuador and Colombia.
the language of the Barbacoa.
First recorded in 1945–50; from Spanish; see barbecue ( def. )
First recorded in 1885–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Barbacoa, specifically South Texas beef-head barbacoa, is a major influence on contemporary Texas barbecue.
From The New Yorker • Sep. 12, 2019
Barbacoa serves the same restorative morning-after function as menudo or birria.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2017
Most valuable dish: Barbacoa burrito with rice, fajita veggies, pinto beans, fresh tomato salsa, cheese, guacamole and sour cream.
From Washington Post • Mar. 3, 2016
The Barbacoa and Pastor have been popular, and for the vegetarian there’s the Verdura, featuring daily fresh vegetables.
From Washington Times • Mar. 8, 2015
They continued their march the fifth day, and about noon came unto a place called Barbacoa.
From The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century by Haring, Clarence Henry
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.
