double-barreled
Americanadjective
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having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.
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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
"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
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.
