barrel Hear it!

barrel Definition

bar·rel (bar′əl, ber′-)

noun

  1. a large, wooden, cylindrical container with flat, circular ends and sides that bulge outward, made usually of staves bound together with hoops
  2. the capacity or contents of a standard barrel, esp. as a unit of measure (in the U.S., 31 gal, but for petroleum, 42 gal and for fermented beverages, 31 gal; in Gr. Brit., 36 imperial gal; in dry measure, various amounts, as 196 lb of flour, 200 lb of pork or fish, etc.)
  3. a revolving cylinder, wound with a chain or rope the barrel of a windlass
  4. any hollow or solid cylinder the barrel of a fountain pen
  5. the tube of a gun, through which the projectile is fired
  6. the cylindrical case containing the mainspring of a clock or watch
  7. the piston chamber of a pump
  8. the quill of a feather
  9. Informal a great amount a barrel of fun

Etymology: ME barel < OFr baril < ML barillus < ?

transitive verb -·reled or -·relled, -·rel·ing or -·rel·ling

to put or pack in a barrel or barrels

intransitive verb

Slang to go at high speed

barrel Idioms

have someone over a barrel

☆

Slang to have someone completely at one's mercy, esp. financially

barrel Synonyms

barrel

n.

cask, keg, hogshead, stoup, vat, tub, puncheon, firkin, butt, carboy, cylinder, tun, receptacle, pipe, container, vessel.

over a barrel

at one's mercy, between a rock and a hard place*, in trouble; see beaten 1.

barrel Finance Definition

A unit of measurement used for oil, gas, and other refined products. One barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons. Sometimes abbreviated BBL or BL.

barrel Usage Examples

Object

shotgun: Arthur shot her twice from behind with a single barreled shotgun.

Converse of object

  • scrape: The phrase scraping the barrel springs grimly to mind.
  • rifle: From the sound of the guns, Babydoll could tell that the Servii were trying out some of the new weapons with rifled barrels.

Adjective modifier

  • flaming: He will stay on the catwalk above, throwing flaming barrels at you.
  • wooden: Tidal conditions were recorded for the complete year using a boulder-filled wooden barrel with half an oar attached, suitably calibrated.

Modifies a noun

  • vault: The thick walls were probably to support a barrel vault.
  • distortion: Digital camera users can apply the Lens Correction filters to correct pincushion fisheye and barrel distortion effects.
  • organ: Hundreds of riders to date have enjoyed the beautifully carved horses, twinkling lights and music from the barrel organ.

Noun used with modifier

  • tailstock: Inexplicably, but as on so many precision bench lathes, the tailstock barrel carried an inadequate a No. 1 Morse taper.
  • oak: At the moment, the blend is aging in new oak barrels.
  • bourbon: Seven years in Bourbon barrels then a further 10 years in Port Pipes.
  • pork: These projects are of low utility and the matching fund concept introduces pork barrel politics.
  • gun: Power doesn't come from the end of a gun barrel; it comes from the look in a crowd's eye.
  • whiskey: I can just see the distillery slipping slowly into the sea and the whiskey barrels bobbing away.

Preposition: of

  • gunpowder: A cellar under the House of Lords was filled with barrels of gunpowder.
  • crude: Iraq sits on an astronomic 112 billion barrels of crude.
  • oil: For example we use lots of barrels of oil per head for every meal we eat each day!
  • beer: The spacious cellars have an enormous capacity for thousands of barrels of beer.
  • brandy: To cover his crime, he hid the site under several barrels of brandy.
  • gun: The barrel of the gun lies a few feet away in the sand.