Etymology
Origin of barbed
Explanation
Something that's barbed is sharp or spiky. Barbed wire has very sharp points at intervals along its length, to keep animals or people in (or out of) a yard. Roses are famous for their sweet blossoms and barbed stems. A fish hook is also barbed, with a sharp spike on its end. You can use barbed figuratively, to describe cruel or biting words: "Her barbed comment made it clear how angry she was after the practical joke he'd played on her." The root of barbed is the Old French word for "beard," or "something beardlike," barbe, from the Latin barba, also "beard."
Vocabulary lists containing barbed
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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Seedfolks
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This Week in Words: October 22 - 27, 2017
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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.
Sensory organs in their eight feet and two antenna-like palps sense heat or carbon dioxide from people passing by, and they quickly climb aboard, piercing the flesh with long, barbed mouthparts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
To access the trees, he had to climb over a barbed wire fence and use a small step, joking that he did not want to rip his trousers.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
On the Estonian side, antitank obstacles called dragon’s teeth are splayed along a small section of the riverbank, fenced in by barbed wire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
My coffee table is made of aluminum and resembles barbed wire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
As if the trees weren’t an adequate barrier, a metal fence surrounds the approach, decorated with rolls of barbed wire.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
