barbecue
Americannoun
-
barbecues
plural
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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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.
-
a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.
verb (used with object)
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barbecues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barbecued,
past participle, past
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barbecuing
present participle
-
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.
-
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
noun
-
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
verb
-
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barbecuesimple
-
barbecuessimple
-
have barbecuedperfect
-
has barbecuedperfect
-
am barbecuingprogressive
-
are barbecuingprogressive
-
is barbecuingprogressive
-
have been barbecuingperfect progressive
-
has been barbecuingperfect progressive
Past
-
barbecuedsimple
-
had barbecuedperfect
-
was barbecuingprogressive
-
were barbecuingprogressive
-
had been barbecuingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing barbecue
Memorial Day Words
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
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Ben Zimmer's 30 Great American Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So we plan to cater a barbecue buffet from Palmetto Pig, one of our favorite restaurants, instead.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
There is also a custom barbecue palapa with views of the surrounding mountains.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Berkeley police said the long object Shrine pulled from his pocket while following Winograd into her apartment building was believed to be a barbecue lighter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Top donors and leaders of the University of Michigan gathered for a barbecue in May at the sun-soaked waterfront estate of Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison in Palm Beach County, Fla.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Mong started clearing space for a makeshift barbecue pit, me and Rondell trying to help out but really just getting in the way.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Around that time, he took on the role of grill master at the offensive line barbecues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
And I haven’t even gotten to the fantasy talk, which turns otherwise delightful conversationalists into bores you need to avoid at office functions and weekend barbecues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Sample some new snacks: Summer barbecues are rife with potato-chip mediocrity.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
Burnham also said some of the wildfires burning across the country will have been started by disposable barbecues.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
They have barbecues for neighbors and coach their children in sports.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Frank barbecued ribs in the yard, his mom served birria with rice and beans, and some 50 friends and classmates showed up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
I’ll always prefer Mom’s barbecued chicken, fried chicken and French fries, but I have branched out, trying an array of new, relatively tamer foods, ranging from albacore tuna to zucchini.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Orion wares include 58 tortillas, 43 cups of coffee, barbecued beef brisket and five types of hot sauce.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
The assortment of fried, smothered, pickled or barbecued options guide your steps into the gentlest of food comas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2024
I’m drawn first to a large platter of chaswei, sweet barbecued pork cut into coin-sized inc.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
Dorothy Westerinen celebrated the Fourth of July the way she usually does, by barbecuing and hanging out around the pool with her wife and close friends.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
"I can combine barbecuing with my previous work experience, which will be an advantage for me," Xu said after attending a class on editing videos for Douyin -- China's version of TikTok.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
“And my other favorite time is sunset in the upper bedroom or downstairs barbecuing something outdoors. The views really are spectacular.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
The rest of the section, which included anodyne listicles about summer activities, barbecuing, and photography, soon attracted additional scrutiny.
From Slate ● May 21, 2025
He also liked barbecuing in his favorite stain-splattered red and white checked apron.
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
