barbecue

American  

[bahr-bi-kyoo] / ˈbɑr bɪˌkju /

Or barbeque,

noun

barbecues plural

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.

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verb (used with object)

barbecues, present (3rd person singular) barbecued, past participle, past barbecuing present participle

1. 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.

2. 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

1. to cook over an open fire using an instrument such as a grill, spit, or smoker, or to host a social gathering where food is cooked in this manner.

   If the weather's nice, we'll barbecue in the backyard.

barbecue British  

/ ˈbɑːbɪˌkjuː /

noun

1. a meal cooked out of doors over an open fire

2. an outdoor party or picnic at which barbecued food is served

3. a grill or fireplace used in barbecuing

4. the food so cooked

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verb

1. to cook (meat, fish, etc) on a grill, usually over charcoal and often with a highly seasoned sauce

2. to cook (meat, fish, etc) in a highly seasoned sauce

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• barbecuer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• barbecues
  plural

Participles

• barbecuing
  present
• barbecued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• barbecue
  simple
• barbecues
  simple
• have barbecued
  perfect
• has barbecued
  perfect
• am barbecuing
  progressive
• are barbecuing
  progressive
• is barbecuing
  progressive
• have been barbecuing
  perfect progressive
• has been barbecuing
  perfect progressive

Past

• barbecued
  simple
• had barbecued
  perfect
• was barbecuing
  progressive
• were barbecuing
  progressive
• had been barbecuing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will barbecue
  simple
• will have barbecued
  perfect
• will be barbecuing
  progressive
• will have been barbecuing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

They include novices straight out of education, laid-off construction workers and barbecue business owners seeking new inspiration.

From Barron's • Jul. 2, 2026

Hamburgers were once a staple of the July 4 barbecue.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026

Daniello said over a plate of barbecue chicken and fries in suburban Kansas City.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026

Kansas City has a legendary tailgating culture which is regarded as one of the best in the country and includes some of the country's best barbecue.

From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026

Mom is serving up barbecue chicken with biscuits and beans from Chicken Tony’s Take-Out.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• broil
• grill
• sear