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.

---

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

---

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

Nearby, a man fanned skewers sizzling on a barbecue grill while a couple played badminton and retirees sang cheerfully on a park bench.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

The fare is all Brazilian, from feijão tropeiro, a traditional bean dish, to chicken, pork and beef churrasco or Brazilian-style barbecue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

“It was at this tiny theater on Pico near LaBrea, next to a barbecue place,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026

Holly and Jessica vanished after leaving a family barbecue in their small town near Cambridge in August 2002.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

Lenny makes his way into the kitchen as my mom pours the rest of the barbecue sauce over the top of them.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden

Related Words

• broil
• grill
• sear