barbeque

[bahr-bi-kyoo]

noun, verb (used with or without object), bar·be·qued, bar·be·qu·ing.

barbecue.

barbecue

or bar·be·que, bar-b-que

[bahr-bi-kyoo]

noun

pieces of beef, fowl, fish, or the like, roasted over an open hearth, especially when basted in a barbecue sauce.

a framework, as a grill or a spit, or a fireplace for cooking meat or vegetables over an open fire.

a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.

a meal, usually in the open air and often as a political or social gathering, at which meats are roasted over an open hearth or pit.

verb (used with object), bar·be·cued, bar·be·cu·ing.

to broil or roast whole or in large pieces over an open fire, on a spit or grill, often seasoning with vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper.

to cook (sliced or diced meat or fish) in a highly seasoned sauce.

verb (used without object), bar·be·cued, bar·be·cu·ing.

to cook by barbecuing or to entertain at a barbecue: If the weather's nice, we'll barbecue in the backyard.

Origin of barbecue

1655–65; < Spanish barbacoa < Arawak (perhaps Taino) barbacoa a raised frame of sticks

Related formsbar·be·cu·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for barbeque

Contemporary Examples of barbeque

The place where jazz and barbeque and mob bosses and the blues flourished.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History
Katie Baker
October 24, 2014
Finally, it is summer and one other wine to enjoy outside around the barbeque would be the Tobin James Sauvignon Blanc.
William Shatner Picks His Favorite Wines
William Shatner
July 4, 2014
On the Fourth of July, a barbeque was held with Coca-Cola and grilled sausages and partygoers sang the American national anthem.
The Kremlin’s Extremist Youth Camp
Anna Nemtsova
August 10, 2011
She wrote that to a group of her closest aides, presumably in preparation for a barbeque in the summer of 2008.
The Quirks in the Sarah Palin Emails
Shushannah Walshe, Michael Falcone
June 12, 2011
I love to barbeque and his recipes are simple and easy to make.
Fresh Picks
Lee Brian Schrager
February 16, 2010

Historical Examples of barbeque

Next weekend my mom and dad are going to Saturn for a barbeque.
FreeChildrenStories.com Collection
Daniel Errico
And, separated by a hedge, a brown tent with a barbeque pit before it, smoke rising in a rigid ribbon from the chimney.
Elegy
Charles Beaumont
The pretty waitress lighted a gas-heater with a barbeque lighter, took our orders and went inside.
Little Brother
Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for barbeque

barbecue

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 -cues, -cuing or -cued (tr)

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

Word Origin for barbecue

C17: from American Spanish barbacoa, probably from Taino: frame made of sticks

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for barbeque

barbecue

1660s, from barbecue (n.). Related: Barbecued; barbecuing.

barbecue

1650s, "framework for grilling meat, fish, etc.," from American Spanish barbacoa, from Arawakan (Haiti) barbakoa "framework of sticks," the raised wooden structure the Indians used to either sleep on or cure meat. Sense of "outdoor meal of roasted meat or fish as a social entertainment" is from 1733; modern popular noun sense of "grill for cooking over an open fire" is from 1931.