barbecue
or bar·be·que, bar-b-que
[bahr-bi-kyoo]
- pieces of beef, fowl, fish, or the like, roasted over an open hearth, especially when basted in a barbecue sauce.
- a framework, as a grill or a spit, or a fireplace for cooking meat or vegetables over an open fire.
- a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.
- a meal, usually in the open air and often as a political or social gathering, at which meats are roasted over an open hearth or pit.
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- to broil or roast whole or in large pieces over an open fire, on a spit or grill, often seasoning with vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper.
- to cook (sliced or diced meat or fish) in a highly seasoned sauce.
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- to cook by barbecuing or to entertain at a barbecue: If the weather's nice, we'll barbecue in the backyard.
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Origin of barbecue
1655–65; < Spanish barbacoa < Arawak (perhaps Taino) barbacoa a raised frame of sticks
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for barbecue
Contemporary Examples
So, the Southside Smokehouse is more than a barbecue pit, a burger shack, or a Cajun kitchen.
We remember that time a flight attendant told us at a barbecue that if the bell tones four times, things are serious.
He went on to open a dry cleaning business, barbecue restaurant, and liquor store.
You know the Korean-style barbecue that you wrap in lettuce leaves to eat?
If you need another reason to dine, the barbecue is tasty and the fixins are plentiful.
Historical Examples
I think it was the fellow that shot so well with the rifle at the barbecue––what was his name?
Whispering SmithFrank H. Spearman
He was at that moment walking past the barbecue pit with George McCloud.
Whispering SmithFrank H. Spearman
He had instructed his black people to have a barbecue at their quarters.
The Kentucky RangerEdward T. Curnick
This barbecue feast was to be eaten after the marriage ceremony was performed.
The Kentucky RangerEdward T. Curnick
The father of the young lady you were so attentive to at the barbecue.
Lone Star PlanetHenry Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire
barbecue
- 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
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- 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
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Word Origin
C17: from American Spanish barbacoa, probably from Taino: frame made of sticks
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for barbecue
n.
1650s, "framework for grilling meat, fish, etc.," from American Spanish barbacoa, from Arawakan (Haiti) barbakoa "framework of sticks," the raised wooden structure the Indians used to either sleep on or cure meat. Sense of "outdoor meal of roasted meat or fish as a social entertainment" is from 1733; modern popular noun sense of "grill for cooking over an open fire" is from 1931.
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v.
1660s, from barbecue (n.). Related: Barbecued; barbecuing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper