barbecue

American  

[bahr-bi-kyoo] / ˈbɑr bɪˌkyu /

Or barbeque,

noun

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)

barbecued, barbecuing

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)

barbecued, barbecuing

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

• barbecuer noun

Etymology

Origin of barbecue

First recorded in 1655–65; from Spanish barbacoa, from Arawak (perhaps Taíno ) barbacoa “a raised frame of sticks”

Example Sentences

Early on Saturday evening, the Tychyna Avenue neighbors huddled around a fire for an impromptu barbecue.

From The Wall Street Journal

The two met in 2012 when a friend invited him to a barbecue she was attending, People reported.

From Los Angeles Times

In recent days, videos have circulated on social media showing Ukrainians barbecuing in snowy yards and dancing to keep warm in the face of continued power cuts and freezing temperatures.

From BBC

The pool needed to be resurfaced, a new barbecue added and some trees trimmed.

From MarketWatch

He and his wife held regular Sunday evening barbecue dinners, featuring freewheeling debates, at their Battery Park home in Manhattan.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• broil
• grill
• sear