barney
noun
barney
1 American
[bahr-nee]
/ ˈbɑr ni /
noun
barneys
plural
-
Informal.
-
an argument.
-
a prizefight.
-
a fight or brawl.
-
a blunder or mistake.
-
-
a small locomotive used in mining and logging.
-
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.
Barney
2
American
[bahr-nee]
/ ˈbɑr ni /
noun
barney
British
/ ˈbɑːnɪ /
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of barney
First recorded in 1860–65; perhaps special uses of Barney
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.
See Examples For:
“Give barney his chubby cheeks and nose back!”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2023
The “my culture is not your prom dress” barney in the US; another “boycott Starbucks” campaign; the Simpsons/Apu controversy – Ansari undermines them all.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2018
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
“Don`t worry ipad user, you can pass down your ipad to your kids to play games, watch barney or elmo...”
From Forbes ● Jul. 7, 2011
They had a right barney this evening, actually over the dinner table.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
"It accentuates what they've done," says Dr Barney Wainwright, senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett University.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Gladiators presenter Barney Walsh has been handed a six-month driving ban after breaking a temporary 50mph speed limit on a motorway.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2026
Rapper T.I. will still perform at halftime, but the live recording of the Hawks AF Podcast featuring Gertz, T.I. and Magic City founder Michael Barney was canceled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026
He was a deputy director in the International Monetary Fund’s Policy Development and Review Department and the chief emerging-market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
Six appointments were made, and one by one, family by family, talk, talk, talk, Barney Northrup led the tours around and about Sunset Towers.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
If barneys used to be the norm in football dressing rooms, the modern-day footballer is a milder-mannered creature.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2014
We had long talks and barneys over the whole thing—sometimes by ourselves with Starlight, sometimes with father.
From Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields by Boldrewood, Rolf
They were always having "barneys," and it would only be looked upon as one of his usual freaks.
From The Ebbing Of The Tide South Sea Stories - 1896 by Becke, Louis
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.
