barbershop

[bahr-ber-shop]

noun

1. especially British, barber's shop. the place of business of a barber.

2. the singing of four-part harmony in barbershop style or the music sung in this style.

adjective

1. specializing in the unaccompanied part-singing of popular songs in which four voices move in close, highly chromatic harmony.

   a barbershop quartet.

2. characteristic of such part-singing.

barbershop

/ ˈbɑːbəˌʃɒp /

noun

1. the premises of a barber

2. (modifier) denoting or characterized by a type of close four-part harmony for male voices, popular in romantic and sentimental songs of the 1920s and 1930s

   a barbershop quartet

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbershop¹

First recorded in 1570–80; barber + shop

Example Sentences

Mr. Charles Goble, the father of the thirteen children, was a Colored barber, but he couldn’t cut Colored men’s or even his own sons’ hair in his barbershop.

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The BBC discovered that a Kurdish crime network was running mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

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We have linked more than 100 mini-marts, barbershops and car washes, operating from Dundee to south Devon, to the crime network.

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Baller amenities are said to include a bowling alley, recording studio, and barbershop.

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At the end of the night, some guys invited us to their barbershop to keep drinking, so we went.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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