double-barreled
Americanadjective
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having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.
-
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.
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
The inflection point for the fashion and beauty industry came with the double-barreled ascent of Jennifer Lopez, who conquered both the pop charts and the big screen in the latter part of the ’90s.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2025
But this year’s ceremony, emceed by ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel, had the double-barreled box office bang of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” going for it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
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
Next to a box of shells, Grandpa Dowdel’s old double-barreled Winchester Model 21 was on the kitchen table, along with a greasy rig, like Grandma meant to clean it.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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.
