Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Barrel

Bar′rel

(băr′rĕl)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Barreled
(-rĕld)
, or
Barrelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Barreling
, or
Barrelling
.]
To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

Webster 1828 Edition

Barrel

BAR'REL

, n.
1.
A vessel or cask, of more length than breadth, round and bulging in the middle, made of staves and heading, and bound with hoops.
2.
The quantity which a barrel contains. Of wine measure, the English barrel contains 31 l/2 gallons, of beer measure, 36 gallons; of ale, 32 gallons; and of beer-vinegar, 34 gallons.
Of weight, a barrel of Essex butter is 106 pounds; of Suffolk butter,256, a barrel of herring should contain 32 gallons wine measure, and hold 1000 herrings; a barrel of salmon should contain 42 gallons; a barrel of soap should weigh 256 lbs.
In America, the contents of a barrel are regulated by statutes.
In Connecticut, the barrel for liquors must contain 31 l/2 gallons, each gallon to contain 231 cubic inches. In New York, a barrel of flour by statute must contain either 196 lb. or 228 lb.net weight. The barrel of beef and pork in New York and Connecticut, is 200 lbs. In general, the contents of barrels, as defined by statute, in this country, must be from 28 to 31 1/2 gallons.
3.
Any thing hollow and long, as the barrel of a gun; a tube.
4.
A cylinder; as the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled, and round which is wound the chain.
5.
A cavity behind the tympanum of the ear is called the barrel of the ear. It is four or five lines deep, and five or six wide, and covered with a fine membrane. It is more usually called the cavity of the tympanum.

BAR'REL

,
Verb.
T.
To put in a barrel; to pack in a barrel with salt for preservation, as to barrel beef, pork or fish.

Definition 2024

Barrel

Barrel

See also: barrel

German

Noun

Barrel n ‎(genitive Barrels, plural Barrels)

  1. barrel

barrel

barrel

See also: Barrel

English

Barrels (1)
Barrels used to age wine in the cellar of a winery

Noun

barrel ‎(plural barrels)

  1. (countable) A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
    • 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).
    a cracker barrel‎
  2. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 31 ½ gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds; of beer 31 gallons; of ale 32 gallons; of crude oil 42 gallons.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 205:
      Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 205:
      23 Hen. VIII, cap. 4... The barrel of beer is to hold 36 gallons, the kilderkin 18 gallons the firkin 9. But the barrel, kilderkin, and firkin of ale are to contain 32, 16, and 8 gallons.
  3. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case;
    the barrel of a windlass;  the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.‎
  4. A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
  5. (archaic) A tube.
  6. (zoology) The hollow basal part of a feather.
  7. (music) The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and looks rather like a barrel (1).
  8. (surfing) A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.
  9. (US, specifically New England) A waste receptacle.
    Throw it into the trash barrel.‎
  10. The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.
  11. (obsolete) A jar.
    • Bible, 1 Kings 17:12, King James Version:
      And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: […]
      compare the New International Version:
      "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. […]
  12. (biology) Any of the dark-staining regions in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, etc., where somatosensory inputs from the contralateral side of the body come in from the thalamus.

Synonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

barrel ‎(third-person singular simple present barrels, present participle barrelling or barreling, simple past and past participle barrelled or barreled)

  1. (transitive) To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.
  2. (intransitive) To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.
    He came barrelling around the corner and I almost hit him.
    • 2012 November 17, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:
      Snow shattered and spilled down the slope. Within seconds, the avalanche was the size of more than a thousand cars barreling down the mountain and weighed millions of pounds.

French

Etymology

From English

Noun

barrel m ‎(plural barrels)

  1. Alternative form of baril

Etymology

From Middle English barrell, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil ‎(“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre ‎(“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra ‎(“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternate connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 ‎(bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz ‎(“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-, *bʰrē- ‎(“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear +‎ -le. Compare also Old High German biril ‎(“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel ‎(“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill ‎(“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla ‎(“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.

Pronunciation

Similar Results