barricade
Americannoun
-
barricades
plural
-
a defensive barrier hastily constructed, as in a street, to stop an enemy.
-
any barrier that obstructs passage.
verb (used with object)
-
barricades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barricaded,
past participle, past
-
barricading
present participle
-
to obstruct or block with a barricade.
barricading the streets to prevent an attack.
-
to shut in and defend with or as if with a barricade.
The rebels had barricaded themselves in the old city.
- Synonyms:
- fortify
noun
verb
-
to erect a barricade across (an entrance, passageway, etc) or at points of access to (a room, district of a town, etc)
they barricaded the door
-
(usually passive) to obstruct; block
his mind was barricaded against new ideas
Synonym Usage
See bar 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barricadesimple
-
barricadessimple
-
have barricadedperfect
-
has barricadedperfect
-
am barricadingprogressive
-
are barricadingprogressive
-
is barricadingprogressive
-
have been barricadingperfect progressive
-
has been barricadingperfect progressive
Past
-
barricadedsimple
-
had barricadedperfect
-
was barricadingprogressive
-
were barricadingprogressive
-
had been barricadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barricade
1585–95; < French, equivalent to barrique barrel (< Gascon ) + -ade -ade 1; early barricades in Paris were often composed of barrels
Explanation
A barricade is anything that prevents people or vehicles from getting through. Construction workers often barricade a street to block traffic. You know how barriers block things from getting through? A barricade is similar. Soldiers create barricades to keep enemy troops out. Police officers put up barricades around a crime scene. If an electrical wire becomes loose and dangerous, a barricade around the area will keep people from getting hurt. This can also be a verb, like when parents barricade part of their house to keep toddlers from getting into trouble. Barricading is a physical way of saying "Keep out!"
Vocabulary lists containing barricade
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 7
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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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:
Brooks has described applying for compensation as torturous, a barricade that is constantly preventing him from being able to move forward.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Ten years later he gained prominence when footage went viral showing his infantry fighting vehicle smashing through a makeshift barricade.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In a video which went viral, he commanded an infantry vehicle as it smashed through a makeshift barricade set up by pro-Moscow forces in the southern city of Mariupol.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
“That’s when we put the barricade to stop him from being moved,” Pillay recalled.
From Slate ● May 29, 2026
Somehow my father managed to push through the barricade.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
So naturally the party leadership seems prepared to go to the barricades to defend it.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Instead, over the last five years, it has turned the historic stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard into a nuisance, a ghost-town construction site with vandalized fences and barricades sitting for years on end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The struggle over public safety became concrete when residents began placing makeshift barricades in the streets to slow ICE vehicles.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Volunteers stretched blue tarpaulins over small groups as chants continued and soaked demonstrators waited for news from the police barricades.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
She's moved in closer, the only runner outside of the barricades.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
By the time deputies arrived, the suspect had barricaded himself inside his home, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Court staff barricaded off the area and guarded it.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Subway exits were also barricaded and mobile internet was jammed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
He then barricaded the man in the shop with a shopping trolley, as a bystander called the police.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
I’ve barricaded myself behind my book and under my earmuffs.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
On Monday, authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and imposed restrictions on public movement by barricading many arterial roads.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
When officers arrived, they detained one suspect immediately, but the second suspect was inside the manhole and refused to come out, barricading himself, said Officer Tony Im, a spokesperson for the Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
Rabbi Walker was one of the men who, like Mr Daulby, had been barricading the doors to stop Al-Shamie getting in before police shot the attacker dead.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
An emergency alert was issued and sirens sounded just two minutes later, issuing a lockdown warning that left worried students and staff barricading themselves inside dorms, bathrooms, classrooms and gyms.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
Kids crowded all along the back of the bench, barricading any escape.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
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.
