Meaning of barrel | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
   countable
2. Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun holds. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)
   countable
3. Resembling or similar to a barrel, as in shape: a barrel chest; barrel hips.
4. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.
5. To put or pack in a barrel.
6. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case
7. To move or progress rapidly: "That the European Union barreled ahead was not surprising" (Richard W. Stevenson).
8. A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
9. Granting, giving, or requesting no credit: paid cash on the barrel for the car.
10. A venturi (in carburetion).
11. In a very awkward position from which extrication is difficult: During the negotiations the opposing faction had us over a barrel.
12. A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.
13. over a barrel, at the mercy of circumstances or one's adversaries; without choices.
14. Informal. A great deal:abundance, mass, mountain, much, plenty, profusion, wealth, world.
15. Any tube.
    archaic
16. Slang. To move swiftly:bolt, bucket, bustle, dart, dash, festinate, flash, fleet, flit, fly, haste, hasten, hurry, hustle, pelt, race, rocket, run, rush, sail, scoot, scour, shoot, speed, sprint, tear, trot, whirl, whisk, whiz, wing, zip, zoom.
17. The hollow basal part of a feather.
18. The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and resembles a barrel.
19. [part of a syringe] cilindro; barril.
20. A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.
21. A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.
22. A waste receptacle.
    New-England, US, specifically
23. The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.
24. A jar.
    obsolete
25. 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.
26. A statistic derived from launch angle and exit velocity of a ball hit in play.

Equivalents

Examples

“Near-synonym: cask”

“a cracker barrel”

“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).”

“Barrels came in firkins, nine gallons; kilderkins, eighteen gallons; halves, twenty-seven gallons; barrels, thirty-six gallons and hogsheads, fifty-four.”

“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.”

“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.”

“the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.”

“You're shooting stars from the barrel of your eyes”

“Moreover, it adds to difficulties in adjusting/servicing lamps located over high scenery, ceilings etc., where the barrel networks cannot be lowered or reached.”

“The barrel, which is usually from 2.0 m to 2.5 m long, and capable of lifting loads up to 120 kg, is suspended from the main housing which contains the motor gearbox unit, etc.”

“Throw it into the trash barrel.”

“And ſhe ſaid, As the Lord thy God liueth, I haue not a cake, but an handfull of meale in a barrell, and a little oyle in a cruſe: [...]”

New International Version translation: “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. …

“For quotations using this term, see Citations:barrel.”

CEFR level