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)

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

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have barbecued
  perfect
• has barbecued
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have been barbecuing
  perfect progressive
• is barbecuing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• has been barbecuing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am barbecuing
  progressive 1st person singular
• are barbecuing
  progressive
• barbecuing
  participle
• barbecues
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had barbecued
  perfect
• had been barbecuing
  perfect progressive
• was barbecuing
  progressive singular
• were barbecuing
  progressive plural
• barbecued
  simple
• barbecued
  participle

Future

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

The tie-ups were unveiled after CEO Jensen Huang spent the weekend eating barbecue in Seoul with the country's tech leaders and appearing on a popular TV show.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

“We weren’t always known for barbecue,” said Randy Pauly, an award-winning pitmaster and the director of barbecue operations at Buc-ee’s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

For his part, Talarico told CBS News on Wednesday that he has “been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”

From Salon • May 30, 2026

It’s a vision wide enough to include monster trucks, lowriders, underground comedy, Miami street art, Texas barbecue and haggis tacos, dreamed up by Ferguson and executed by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

They had a giant snack pack of barbecue potato chips and those lemonade drinks in little boxes and a giant bag of red apples.

From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate

Related Words

• broil
• grill
• sear