Barrel (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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noun
  1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.
  2. the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31½ U.S. gallons (119 L); for petroleum, 42 U.S. gallons (159 L); for dry materials, 105 U.S. dry quarts (115 L). Abbreviation: bbl
  3. any large quantity: a barrel of fun.
  4. any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.
  5. the tube of a gun.
  6. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.
  7. a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.
  8. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.
  9. a calamus or quill.
  10. the trunk of a quadruped, especially of a horse, cow, etc.
  11. the main portion of a capstan, about which the rope winds, between the drumhead at the top and the pawl rim at the bottom.
  12. a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.
  13. any structure having the form of a barrel vault.
  14. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.
verb (used with object), bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.
  1. to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.
  2. to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.
  3. to force to go or proceed at high speed: He barreled his car through the dense traffic.
verb (used without object), bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.
  1. to travel or drive very fast: to barrel along the highway.
Idioms
  1. in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act: They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.
noun
  1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask
  2. the amount that a barrel can hold
  3. a unit of capacity used in brewing, equal to 36 Imperial gallons
  4. a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons
  5. a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine
  6. the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged
  7. the cylindrical drum in a watch or clock that is rotated by the mainspring
  8. the trunk of a four-legged animal
  9. the quill of a feather
  10. a large measure; a great deal (esp in the phrases barrel of fun, barrel of laughs)
  11. the hollow inner side of a wave
  12. powerless
  13. to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
verb -rels, -relling or -relled or US -rels, -reling or -reled
  1. to put into a barrel or barrels
  2. to travel or move very fast
  3. to ride on the inside of a wave
Barrel (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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