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• barney
  barney

  noun
• Barney
  Barney

  noun

  a first name, form of Bernard.

barney

¹ American  

[bahr-nee] / ˈbɑr ni /

noun

barneys plural

1. Informal.

   1. an argument.

   2. a prizefight.

   3. a fight or brawl.

   4. a blunder or mistake.

2. a small locomotive used in mining and logging.

3. Movie Slang. a heavily padded cover for a camera, used to reduce the camera noise so that it will not be picked up by the sound-recording equipment.

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Barney ² American  

[bahr-nee] / ˈbɑr ni /

noun

1. a first name, form of Bernard.

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barney British  

/ ˈbɑːnɪ /

noun

1. a noisy argument

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verb

1. to argue or quarrel

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• barneys
  plural

Etymology

Origin of barney

First recorded in 1860–65; perhaps special uses of Barney

Example Sentences

“Even barney did plastic surgery,” one person tweeted.

From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2023

For "sell 10,000 bushels of May wheat at $1.45 1/4" the message might read: "Sell barney stoke", explained Ross.

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2013

"I'm doing an event at the Globe, talking about identity politics with Peter Tatchell and George Galloway," he said, adding: "We're probably going to have a bit of a barney."

From The Guardian • May 27, 2013

I’ve had a reasonably public barney with Mark Lynas in the pages of The Guardian.

From Forbes • Jan. 5, 2013

They had a right barney this evening, actually over the dinner table.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell