Meaning of double-barrelled | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see double, barrelled. Having two barrels, as a gun.
   not-comparable
2. Twofold, having a double purpose or nature.
   not-comparable
3. Having two separate parts, often adjoined by a hyphen (or sometimes a space).
   not-comparable
4. Forceful, powerful (like a double-barrelled shotgun).
   figuratively, not-comparable

Examples

“Alexander Taylor, a native of Stonehaven who in the later forties went to Edinburgh, where he enjoyed a double-barrelled reputation as a rhymester and as an astronomer.”

“Order-maintenance crackdowns are not an alternative but rather an addition to the severe penalties that dominate criminal justice […] What we are left with today is a system of severe punishments for major offenders and severe treatments for minor offenders and ordinary citizens, especially minorities, a double-barreled approach with significant effects on large numbers of our citizenry.”

“Skilling came to Enron with a double-barrelled reputation: on the one hand he was known to be a cold man with a taste for macho showing-off (Enron employees nicknamed him 'Darth Vader'). On the other hand he was said to be a genius ...”

“Almost unbelievably, some authors have formed the erroneous conception that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is actually the double-barrelled surname of the dictionary’s editor.”

“When the sheriff arrested [Lucy Hicks Anderson] one night, her double-barrelled reputation paid off—Charles Donlon, the town's leading banker, promptly bailed her out. Reason: He had scheduled a huge dinner party, which would have collapsed dismally with Lucy In gaol.”

“Range Rover ran an ad campaign referring to grouse shooting with the line: “There’s only one car for the double-barrelled.””

CEFR level