barbershop
Americannoun
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especially British, barber's shop. the place of business of a barber.
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the singing of four-part harmony in barbershop style or the music sung in this style.
adjective
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specializing in the unaccompanied part-singing of popular songs in which four voices move in close, highly chromatic harmony.
a barbershop quartet.
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characteristic of such part-singing.
noun
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the premises of a barber
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(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
Etymology
Origin of barbershop
Explanation
A barbershop is one of the places where people go to get their hair cut. You might visit a barbershop at the beginning of every summer to get a short crew cut. While some hair cutters call themselves stylists and the places where they work salons, others are barbers who trim hair and shave necks in barbershops. The most common customer at a barbershop is a man who wants a quick haircut and possibly a beard trim or shave as well. In the 1500's, a barbershop was called a "barbery," from the Latin barba, or "beard." A "barbershop quartet" is a four-person, harmonizing singing group.
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.
Over the years it has also been a barbershop and the site of an organ sales and repair store.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
Local barbershop Gornik & Drucker doesn’t know if it can reopen.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026
Starting as a teenager in the 1950s, he sang vocal harmony with a group called the Parliaments at a New Jersey barbershop.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
Baller amenities are said to include a bowling alley, recording studio, and barbershop.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 29, 2025
When Kate dismissed him Joe went to the barbershop, as he always did when he was upset.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
