a person whose occupation it is to cut and dress the hair of customers, especially men, and to shave or trim the beard.
to cut the hair of
to shave or trim the beard of
1275–1325; Middle English barbour < Anglo-French; Old French barbeor, equivalent to barb ( e ) (< Latin barba beard) + -eor < Latin -ātōr- -ator
A barber is a person whose job is cutting hair in a barbershop. Your barber might have a tendency to cut your hair a little shorter than you like. When you visit a barbershop, you sit in a special chair while the barber cuts your hair with scissors or electric clippers. Men are the most common customers of a barber, although women can also get their hair cut by barbers. Barber comes from the Anglo-French word barbour, which is rooted in the Latin word for "beard," barb. Early barbers were certified not only to cut hair, but to perform surgery and dentistry as well.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On death row in Urmia’s main prison, Bakerzadeh became friends with Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, a barber from a village near the city who was also arrested after the protests for women’s rights.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
In 2024, Farage said at an event: "You can see High Streets with five, six, seven barber shops in them."
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Whether you need a meal or a mechanic, balloons or even a barber, Hanoi's busy pavements could always oblige.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
The younger Angel played sax in the family band, went to barber college in Pasadena, apprenticed in Williams, then came home in 1950 to take over his father’s old shop along Route 66.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
And Mr. Cooper, the barber, stroking his mustache the same way Miss Sadie had described his father, Mr. Keufer, doing.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
