barrel
Americannoun
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barrels
plural
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a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.
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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
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any large quantity.
a barrel of fun.
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any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.
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Ordnance. the tube of a gun.
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Machinery. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.
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a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.
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Horology. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.
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Ornithology Obsolete. a calamus or quill.
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the trunk of a quadruped, especially of a horse, cow, etc.
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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.
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a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.
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any structure having the form of a barrel vault.
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Also called throat. Automotive. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.
verb (used with object)
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barrels,
present (3rd person singular)
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barreled,
past participle, past
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barrelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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barreling,
present participle
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barrelling
present participle (especially British)
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to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.
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to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.
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Informal. to force to go or proceed at high speed.
He barreled his car through the dense traffic.
verb (used without object)
-
barrels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barreled,
past participle, past
-
barrelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
barreling,
present participle
-
barrelling
present participle (especially British)
idioms
noun
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a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask
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Also called: barrelful. the amount that a barrel can hold
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a unit of capacity used in brewing, equal to 36 Imperial gallons
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a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons
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a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine
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the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged
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horology the cylindrical drum in a watch or clock that is rotated by the mainspring
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the trunk of a four-legged animal
the barrel of a horse
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the quill of a feather
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informal a large measure; a great deal (esp in the phrases barrel of fun, barrel of laughs )
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informal the hollow inner side of a wave
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informal powerless
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informal to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
verb
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(tr) to put into a barrel or barrels
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informal (intr; foll by along, in, etc) (intr) to travel or move very fast
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informal to ride on the inside of a wave
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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barrelsimple
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barrelssimple
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have barreledperfect
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have barrelledperfect
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has barreledperfect
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has barrelledperfect
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am barrelingprogressive
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am barrellingprogressive
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are barrelingprogressive
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are barrellingprogressive
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is barrelingprogressive
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is barrellingprogressive
-
have been barrelingperfect progressive
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have been barrellingperfect progressive
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has been barrelingperfect progressive
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has been barrellingperfect progressive
Past
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barreledsimple
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barrelledsimple
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had barreledperfect
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had barrelledperfect
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was barrelingprogressive
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was barrellingprogressive
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were barrelingprogressive
-
were barrellingprogressive
-
had been barrelingperfect progressive
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had been barrellingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
A barrel is a big container used to store liquids. If you're moving a barrel, it's best to tip it on its side because its shape bulges at the center, so that it's easy to roll. Barrels hold liquid in them — anything from wine to beer to oil. A barrel can also be the tube in a gun that a bullet travels through. You might hear the expression "stare down the barrel of a gun," which means you're looking at a gun pointed right at your face. A barrel is also used as a unit of measure or to refer to a large unit of measure. When someone says they are having "barrels of fun," they're having a really great time.
Vocabulary lists containing barrel
Out of the Dust
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"After Apple-Picking" by Robert Frost
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I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888
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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:
The price of global benchmark Brent crude oil briefly dropped below $100 a barrel, but rose back to around $102 by Friday evening.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
With the England winger having signed a new contract at Saints and their dynamic games delivering tries by the barrel load, could he be the player to eventually take the record?
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
WTI for November delivery traded around $92 a barrel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, has dropped to around $90 a barrel from $119 in March.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
She cracks another barrel open, takes out a handful of plantains, and distributes them among us.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
There are barrels at Patent Wines, such as the 2024 and 2025 Cabernet Sauvignon that will go into bottles in 2027 and 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Overall, an average of 12 million barrels of oil per day passed through the strait over this period, compared with a pre-war baseline of 17 million.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
The Group of Seven announced Friday that it plans to release 100 million barrels of refined products over the next four months in coordination with the International Energy Agency.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
The Group of Seven major economies agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and fuel from emergency stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
I make my way to a less crowded area, keeping an eye on the entrance to the gym, and those water barrels.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
The eye of the storm barreled over the peninsular fishing village of Las Barrancas, which was largely unreachable after a swollen river caused a highway bridge to collapse.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
Barely a year since Snead had bet on a title window, the Rams had barreled right through it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Eastern time Sunday as a winter storm barreled across the Midwest.
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
On one run in the third quarter, Hernando barreled to the ground after a 10-yard gain — writhing in pain , forcing an injury timeout.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025
A new girl barreled through their circle, breaking it in two.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Police are investigating a dramatic crash Tuesday where an SUV drove onto the sidewalk and barrelled into a vendor in downtown Los Angeles’ flower district, injuring six people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
The American had the crowd on his side but Zverev's serve was unrelenting and he barrelled into a 5-1 lead in the third set.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
Will Smith barrelled up a splitter Gausman left just high enough to trade places with Edman on an RBI double to left.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
There, McIlroy missed two short putts on holes 16 and 18 to open the door for DeChambeau, who barrelled through in typically raucous fashion.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2025
As the dog-headed men barrelled forward, Nico raised his sword.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
“I feel like we were always barreling towards a book,” Weber says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Birds got so comfortable and familiar with the plant that many would wait for doors around the facility to open before barreling inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
When Ritchson isn’t barreling through that summertime face-punching tour, he fronts pleasing if unchallenging straight-to-streaming romps like “Playdate” and “War Machine.”
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
A GMC truck slammed into a Mercedes SUV that was waiting for a parking spot along Venice Boulevard and then came barreling toward Stannard and Sadie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
A Jeep came barreling toward us, heading out of Stokum.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
And so, on we go, barrelling toward the next general election, which must take place by 2029 but will likely be sooner.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
It’s not enough to come barrelling into a conversation with a long-winded explanation of your personal dogma; you must also confidently push the value of those ideas, too.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
The pop star, whose real name is Rachel Keen, has been barrelling about the record industry since she was a teenager.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2024
Some 80 surfers could work different waves simultaneously: barrelling waves, big waves, kid-friendly waves, Knieriem said.
From Washington Times ● May 29, 2023
The barking dog he’d heard before got louder, and suddenly a white blur came barrelling through the snow.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
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.
