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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.

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

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

The new system still won’t allow names that are more than double-barreled.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2023

He gave me the double-barreled blue-eyed all-American stare.

From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson