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

The other park, not far up the coast, was as perky and clean-cut as a barbershop quartet, painted the colors of sand and sky, with shipshape and jaunty ocean-inspired adventures, and zippy, futuristic, razzle-dazzle rides.

From Los Angeles Times

The back of the barbershop he manages features a mural of the Virgen de Guadalupe, a cactus plant and a Mexican flag.

From Los Angeles Times

Around the corner from Styles’ barbershop there’s a small encampment where about half a dozen people have been living.

From Los Angeles Times

"The money I'm earning now from the barbershop is helping me pay for school fees again."

From BBC

He was forced to leave behind his barbershop, the Orient Salon, in Damascus following the outbreak of war in 2011.

From BBC

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