barrow

1
[ bar-oh ]
See synonyms for barrow on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a flat, rectangular frame used for carrying a load, especially such a frame with projecting shafts at each end for handles; handbarrow.

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

Origin of barrow

1
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, bear1

Words Nearby barrow

Other definitions for barrow (2 of 4)

barrow2
[ bar-oh ]

noun
  1. Archaeology. tumulus (def. 1).

  2. Chiefly British. a hill (sometimes used in combination): Trentishoe Barrow in North Devon; Whitbarrow in North Lancashire.

Origin of barrow

2
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

Other definitions for barrow (3 of 4)

barrow3
[ bar-oh ]

noun
  1. a castrated male swine.

Origin of barrow

3
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. bore2, whose meaning is close to the semantics of cutting or splitting (referring to castration)

Other definitions for Barrow (4 of 4)

Barrow
[ bar-oh ]

noun
  1. a seaport in Cumbria, in northwestern England.: Also called Bar·row-in-Fur·ness [bar-oh-in-fur-nis]. /ˈbær oʊ ɪnˈfɜr nɪs/.

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use barrow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for barrow (1 of 4)

barrow1

/ (ˈbærəʊ) /


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

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

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

  3. into one's barrow Irish and Scot dialect suited to one's interests or desires

Origin of barrow

1
Old English bearwe; related to Old Norse barar bier, Old High German bāra

British Dictionary definitions for barrow (2 of 4)

barrow2

/ (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

Origin of barrow

2
Old English beorg; related to Old Norse bjarg, Gothic bairgahei hill, Old High German berg mountain

British Dictionary definitions for barrow (3 of 4)

barrow3

/ (ˈbærəʊ) /


noun
  1. a castrated pig

Origin of barrow

3
Old English bearg; related to Old Norse börgr, Old High German barug

British Dictionary definitions for Barrow (4 of 4)

Barrow

/ (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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012