barge

American  

[bahrj] / bɑrdʒ /

noun

1. a capacious, flat-bottomed vessel, usually intended to be pushed or towed, for transporting freight or passengers; lighter.

2. a vessel of state used in pageants.

   elegantly decorated barges on the Grand Canal in Venice.

3. Navy. a boat reserved for a flag officer.

4. a boat that is heavier and wider than a shell, often used in racing as a training boat.

5. New England (chiefly Older Use). a large, horse-drawn coach or, sometimes, a bus.

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verb (used without object)

barged, barging

1. to move clumsily; bump into things; collide.

   to barge through a crowd.

2. to move in the slow, heavy manner of a barge.

verb (used with object)

barged, barging

1. to carry or transport by barge.

   Coal and ore had been barged down the Ohio to the Mississippi.

verb phrase

1. barge into

   1. Also barge in on. to force oneself upon, especially rudely; interfere in.

      to barge into a conversation.

   2. to bump into; collide with.

      He started to run away and barged into a passer-by.

2. barge in to intrude, especially rudely.

   I hated to barge in without an invitation.

barge British  

/ bɑːdʒ /

noun

1. a vessel, usually flat-bottomed and with or without its own power, used for transporting freight, esp on canals

2. a vessel, often decorated, used in pageants, for state occasions, etc

3. navy a boat allocated to a flag officer, used esp for ceremonial occasions and often carried on board his flagship

4. humorous any vessel, esp an old or clumsy one

5. informal a heavy or cumbersome surfboard

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verb

1. informal to bump (into)

2. informal (tr) to push (someone or one's way) violently

3. informal (intr; foll by into or in) to interrupt rudely or clumsily

   to barge into a conversation

4. (tr) sailing to bear down on (another boat or boats) at the start of a race

5. (tr) to transport by barge

6. informal (intr) to move slowly or clumsily

Etymology

Origin of barge

1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French, perhaps < Latin *bārica; bark ³

Example Sentences

She said of his continued relationship with Epstein: "If somebody that I was associated with was in that situation, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole."

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2026

Crucially, Newcastle were controversially denied a penalty after Trevoh Chalobah's barge into Gordon.

From Barron's • Dec. 20, 2025

Grains are largely shipped via barge to ports, where they are then sent abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

The region also received 151,000 barrels of gasoline and 46,000 barrels of diesel per day from other U.S. areas, including the Gulf Coast and the Rocky Mountains, via tanker, barge and rail.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025

Most of the small children on the barge wore knit caps, probably made by their mothers.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

Related Words

• raft