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.
The owner of Primos Barbershop, he stood near the stadium entrance Sunday holding a sign that read “Free Cutz, Welcome to LA.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2026
Barbershop seats were taken by soldiers getting haircuts and beard trims.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
It's exciting work, said the owner of Bareknuckle Barbershop on Derry's Spencer Road.
From BBC • Sep. 2, 2023
Gates said he still delights in going to the Nu Image Barbershop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard’s home town.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2022
I’m here at Duke’s Barbershop every day and I’m waiting for you to tell you how much I love you.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
