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. a town in northern Alaska, south of Barrow Point: site of a government science-research center.

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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

The barrow was among 11 Anglo-Saxon burial mounds dating to the 6th to 7th Centuries.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

For hundreds of years, Norwegians thought they knew who or what had been interred in an enormous barrow on the island of Leka, which is just off the country’s northern coast, facing the Atlantic Ocean.

From New York Times • May 31, 2024

"But then he saw a guy going into the stadium to set up a Coca-Cola stall, so he took a shot of his uniform and barrow and rolled it in so he could watch."

From BBC • Dec. 6, 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

Fisher looked up and chuckled as I passed back through the guardhouse with the barrow.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson