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double-barreled

American  
[duhb-uhl-bar-uhld] / ˈdʌb əlˈbær əld /

adjective

  1. having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.

  2. serving a double purpose or having two parts or aspects.

    a double-barreled attack on corruption.


Etymology

Origin of double-barreled

First recorded in 1700–10

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.

“The Bride!” is a wild, willfully over-the-top double-barreled reinvigoration of 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” that is always doing something a little extra in telling its unpredictable story of identity and the reclamation of the self.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026

I remember wondering whether the literary memoirist I so enjoyed could present a big-picture argument with all the necessary historical asides while carrying forward a heavy, double-barreled thesis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

Wielding a double-barreled shotgun in his review for The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden dismissed Sparks’s book as “treacly” and called the film “a high-toned cinematic greeting card.”

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2024

Even if the parents both keep their original names, they will be able to give their children a double-barreled surname, regardless of whether they are married.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2023

"I probably might just fit in one of those double-barreled accelerated courses in elementary German they've rigged up."

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath