barrel

American  

[bar-uhl] / ˈbær əl /

noun

1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.

2. the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31½ U.S. gallons (119 L); for petroleum, 42 U.S. gallons (159 L); for dry materials, 105 U.S. dry quarts (115 L). bbl

3. any large quantity.

   a barrel of fun.

4. any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.

5. Ordnance. the tube of a gun.

6. Machinery. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.

7. a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.

8. Horology. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.

9. Ornithology Obsolete. a calamus or quill.

10. the trunk of a quadruped, especially of a horse, cow, etc.

11. Nautical. the main portion of a capstan, about which the rope winds, between the drumhead at the top and the pawl rim at the bottom.

12. a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.

13. any structure having the form of a barrel vault.

14. Also called throat.  Automotive. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.

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verb (used with object)

barreled, barreling, barrelled, barrelling

1. to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.

2. to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.

3. Informal. to force to go or proceed at high speed.

   He barreled his car through the dense traffic.

verb (used without object)

barreled, barreling, barrelled, barrelling

1. Informal. to travel or drive very fast.

   to barrel along the highway.

idioms

1. over a barrel, in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act.

   They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.

barrel British  

/ ˈbærəl /

noun

1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask

2. Also called: barrelful.  the amount that a barrel can hold

3. a unit of capacity used in brewing, equal to 36 Imperial gallons

4. a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons

5. a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine

6. the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged

7. horology the cylindrical drum in a watch or clock that is rotated by the mainspring

8. the trunk of a four-legged animal

   the barrel of a horse

9. the quill of a feather

10. informal a large measure; a great deal (esp in the phrases barrel of fun, barrel of laughs )

11. informal the hollow inner side of a wave

12. informal powerless

13. informal to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource

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verb

1. (tr) to put into a barrel or barrels

2. informal (intr; foll by along, in, etc) (intr) to travel or move very fast

3. informal to ride on the inside of a wave

barrel More Idioms  

1. see both barrels; bottom of the barrel; cash on the barrelhead; like shooting fish in a barrel; lock, stock, and barrel; more fun than a barrel of monkeys; over a barrel; pork barrel; rotten apple (spoils the barrel).

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Other Word Forms

• half-barrel noun
• unbarreled adjective
• unbarrelled adjective

Etymology

Origin of barrel

1250–1300; Middle English barell < Anglo-French baril, Old French barril < Vulgar Latin *barrīculum, equivalent to *barrīc ( a ), perhaps derivative of Late Latin barra bar ¹ + Latin -ulum -ule; compare Medieval Latin (circa 800) barriclus small cask

Example Sentences

The country requires about 100,000 barrels a day; it produces 40,000 barrels a day of highly acidic heavy crude, used to fuel obsolete power plants.

From The Wall Street Journal

Prices for other heavier grades sold to Asia were cut by $0.40 a barrel, while lighter grades saw increases of $0.20 a barrel.

From The Wall Street Journal

Energy Information Administration showed that crude stockpiles fell by 3.5 million barrels last week due to a fall in production linked to storm Fern.

From Barron's

Energy Information Administration showed that crude stockpiles fell by 3.5 million barrels last week due to a fall in production linked to storm Fern.

From Barron's

Big barrels full of hard candies formed the aisles.

From Literature

Related Words

• cask
• cylinder
• drum
• pipe