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• barrow
  barrow

  noun

  a wheelbarrow.
• Barrow
  Barrow

  noun

  a seaport in Cumbria, in northwestern England.

barrow

¹ American  

[bar-oh] / ˈbær oʊ /

noun

1. a wheelbarrow.

2. a flat, rectangular frame used for carrying a load, especially such a frame with projecting shafts at each end for handles; handbarrow.

3. British. a pushcart used by street vendors, especially by costermongers.

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barrow ² American  

[bar-oh] / ˈbær oʊ /

noun

1. Archaeology. tumulus.

2. Chiefly British. a hill (sometimes used in combination).

   Trentishoe Barrow in North Devon; Whitbarrow in North Lancashire.

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barrow ³ American  

[bar-oh] / ˈbær oʊ /

noun

1. a castrated male swine.

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Barrow ⁴ American  

[bar-oh] / ˈbær oʊ /

noun

1. Also called Barrow-in-Furness.  a seaport in Cumbria, in northwestern England.

2. Point Barrow, the northern tip of Alaska: the northernmost point of the U.S.

3. (now Utqiagvik) a city in northern Alaska, south of Point Barrow: the site of government and university Arctic research facilities.

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barrow ¹ British  

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. See wheelbarrow handbarrow

2. Also called: barrowful.  the amount contained in or on a barrow

3. a handcart, typically having two wheels and a canvas roof, used esp by street vendors

4. dialect concern or business (esp in the phrases that's not my barrow , that's just my barrow )

5. dialect suited to one's interests or desires

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Barrow ² British  

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a river in SE Ireland, rising in the Slieve Bloom Mountains and flowing south to Waterford Harbour. Length: about 193 km (120 miles)

2. See Barrow-in-Furness Barrow Point

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barrow ³ British  

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a heap of earth placed over one or more prehistoric tombs, often surrounded by ditches. Long barrows are elongated Neolithic mounds usually covering stone burial chambers; round barrows are Bronze Age, covering burials or cremations

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barrow ⁴ British  

/ ˈbærəʊ /

noun

1. a castrated pig

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Etymology

Origin of barrow¹

First recorded 1300–50; Middle English bar(e)we, berwe, from unrecorded Old English bearwe; akin to Middle High German bere; see origin at bier, bear ¹

Origin of barrow²

First recorded before 900; Middle English bergh, berg(e), berugh, bargh, Old English beorg, beorh “hill, mound, mountain”; cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Dutch, Old High German berg “mountain,” Old Norse bjarg, berg “cliff,” Armenian berdz height, Welsh bera “heap”; akin to Avestan bərəz-, bərəzant-, Sanskrit bṛhánt- high. See borough

Origin of barrow³

First recorded before 1000; Middle English barwe, barowe, baruwe, Old English bearg, bearh, berg; cognate with Old High German barug, German Barch, Old Norse bǫrgr; cf. bore ², whose meaning is close to the semantics of cutting or splitting (referring to castration)

Explanation

A barrow is a one- or two-wheeled cart with handles. When you're raking leaves and moving the piles into the corner of your yard, a barrow will come in handy. Barrow, which these days is mainly used as shorthand for wheelbarrow, is actually the older word, derived from an Old English root meaning "to bear or to carry." Barrows are useful for carrying loads of things, like dirt or leaves or sand, from one place to another. However, when archaeologists talk about barrows, they mean something completely different — a burial mound that marks an ancient grave.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barrow Barrow

During his many trips to abandoned mines around mid Wales he has found a child's footprint, hobnail boots, tools, miners' gloves and a 170-year-old barrow "still where the miner originally left it".

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2024

The barrow became two shops in Bethnal Green - with enough money left over to buy Len's parents a greengrocer business in Kent.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023

Dr. Obermaier’s survey of the local terrain pointed to the presence of a long barrow, an elongated stone monument to the dead.

From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2022

Fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire on Dec. 17, 2010 after a local official confiscated his barrow.

From Reuters ● Jul. 25, 2022

Just as in the original game, a map appeared inside the case, directing me to a hidden barrow that marked the end of the game.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

The current pair were sourced from Whitby's twin town of Barrow in Alaska after a worldwide appeal.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

“Defense stocks have sold off since the Iran war started, in part to fund rotation into AI Industrial Stocks,” says Jonathan Evans, director analyst at Barrow Hanley Global Investors.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

Barrow enjoyed a golden age in the late 19th century, when it was home to the largest iron and steel works in the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“There’s two types of people in Barrow: Those who look forward to Christmas, and those who very much do not.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

Julie ducked below the ice rim and made her way along it on hands and feet until she was beyond the village and out of sight of the rooftops of Barrow.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George