barricade
Americannoun
-
a defensive barrier hastily constructed, as in a street, to stop an enemy.
-
any barrier that obstructs passage.
verb (used with object)
-
to obstruct or block with a barricade.
barricading the streets to prevent an attack.
-
to shut in and defend with or as if with a barricade.
The rebels had barricaded themselves in the old city.
- Synonyms:
- fortify
noun
verb
-
to erect a barricade across (an entrance, passageway, etc) or at points of access to (a room, district of a town, etc)
they barricaded the door
-
(usually passive) to obstruct; block
his mind was barricaded against new ideas
Synonym Usage
See bar 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barricadesimple
-
barricadessimple
-
have barricadedperfect
-
has barricadedperfect
-
am barricadingprogressive
-
are barricadingprogressive
-
is barricadingprogressive
-
have been barricadingperfect progressive
-
has been barricadingperfect progressive
Past
-
barricadedsimple
-
had barricadedperfect
-
was barricadingprogressive
-
were barricadingprogressive
-
had been barricadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barricade
1585–95; < French, equivalent to barrique barrel (< Gascon ) + -ade -ade 1; early barricades in Paris were often composed of barrels
Explanation
A barricade is anything that prevents people or vehicles from getting through. Construction workers often barricade a street to block traffic. You know how barriers block things from getting through? A barricade is similar. Soldiers create barricades to keep enemy troops out. Police officers put up barricades around a crime scene. If an electrical wire becomes loose and dangerous, a barricade around the area will keep people from getting hurt. This can also be a verb, like when parents barricade part of their house to keep toddlers from getting into trouble. Barricading is a physical way of saying "Keep out!"
Vocabulary lists containing barricade
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 7
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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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:
Put differently, law does not begin by asking what the barricade does.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ten years later he gained prominence when footage went viral showing his infantry fighting vehicle smashing through a makeshift barricade.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Some also attempted to erect a barricade with rental bikes which was cleared by police.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
Her neighbors put up a barricade to block the vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
It was a frail barricade, but it did help.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
That is the popular constitutional contest the whistles, warnings, carpools, legal observers, and barricades made visible.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
As the march began, protesters spilled onto the streets before being halted at successive barricades.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
A small crowd of people gathered behind a cordon of metal barricades and police tape, some of them in their pyjamas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Secrecy surrounding the event is so tight that the reported venue has been cordoned off with privacy tents, tarps and barricades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
There were barricades around Manhattan General, but in all the confusion, I got past them easily.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
In the countryside west of the Welsh capital, farmers have a WhatsApp group to warn of suspicious vehicles and some have barricaded the entrances to their fields with concrete blocks and fallen trees.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Subway exits were also barricaded and mobile internet was jammed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
He then barricaded the man in the shop with a shopping trolley, as a bystander called the police.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
A powerful 1996 law called Section 230 has long barricaded internet platforms against most civil liability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026
I barricaded entry to the projection room, wedging items under and against the door so it could not be opened.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
On Monday, authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and imposed restrictions on public movement by barricading many arterial roads.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
After his late-night speech announcing the decree, opposition MPs and protesters converged on the National Assembly, but were met by police and military personnel barricading the building.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024
Keith’s drive had just enough behind it, though, clanging off the metal gate barricading the first row of outfield seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2024
An emergency alert was issued and sirens sounded just two minutes later, issuing a lockdown warning that left worried students and staff barricading themselves inside dorms, bathrooms, classrooms and gyms.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
My progress must have prompted the Sixers to end their covert attempts to clear the Third Gate and make its location public by barricading it before I or anyone else could reach it.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
