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• barney
  barney
• 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

Noun Inflected Forms

• barneys
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of barney

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barney Barney barneys

“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

Commented on Cisco Explains Its $700 Cius: More Than A Tablet “Don`t worry ipad user, you can pass down your ipad to your kids to play games, watch barney or elmo...”

From Forbes ● Jun. 30, 2011

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

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Barney “Tiny” Sedran, born to Russian Jewish immigrants, wasn’t tall enough to make his high-school team but played at a settlement house.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Barney said the bus came to a stop right beside a children's play park and that a police helicopter was involved in the chase.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

The grief and pain that BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James described after his beloved chocolate labrador, Barney, was put to sleep felt all too familiar.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Barney Pressman at Barneys, he was the first one to display my goods in the New York shop window 35 years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

"I have twenty people begging for this apartment," Barney Northrup said, lying through his buckteeth.

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 Rolf Boldrewood

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 Louis Becke

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