1
: a round bulging vessel of greater length than breadth that is usually made of staves bound with hoops and has flat ends of equal diameter
2
a
: the amount contained in a barrel
especially
: the amount (such as 31 gallons of fermented beverage or 42 gallons of petroleum) fixed for a certain commodity used as a unit of measure
b
: a great quantity
3
: a drum or cylindrical part: such as
a
: the discharging tube of a gun
b
: the part of a fountain pen or of a pencil containing the ink or lead
c
: a cylindrical or tapering housing containing the optical components of a photographic-lens system and the iris diaphragm
d
: the fuel outlet from the carburetor on a gasoline engine
e
: the flat, cylindrical metal box that encloses the mainspring of a timepiece
4
: the trunk of a quadruped
barreled or barrelled; barreling or barrelling
: to put or pack in a barrel
: to move at a high speed or without hesitation
Synonyms
Noun
- abundance
- basketful
- boatload
- bucket
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- chunk
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- slew
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
Verb
- belt
- blast
- blaze
- blow
- bolt
- bomb [slang]
- bowl
- breeze
- bundle
- bustle
- buzz
- cannonball
- careen
- career
- chase
- course
- crack (on)
- dash
- drive
- fly
- hare
- hasten
- hie
- highball
- hotfoot (it)
- hump
- hurl
- hurry
- hurtle
- hustle
- jet
- jump
- motor
- nip
- pelt
- race
- ram
- rip
- rocket
- run
- rush
- rustle
- scoot
- scurry
- scuttle
- shoot
- speed
- step
- tear
- travel
- trot
- whirl
- whisk
- zip
- zoom
Examples of barrel in a Sentence
Noun
Oak barrels are used for aging the wine.
The price of oil is over 30 dollars a barrel.
They drank a whole barrel of beer.
the barrel of a gun
Verb
The truck went barreling down Main Street.
She came running out of her office and went barreling past us down the hall.
Recent Examples on the Web
Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 28 Apr. 2024
Additionally, the rain barrel’s debris screen was small in comparison to the size of the rain barrel.
—Nor'adila Hepburn, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2024
Recall that in June 2022, early in the Russia-Ukraine war, Brent oil exceeded $120 a barrel.
—Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
That is below the levels just above $90 a barrel seen on Friday before the weekend attacks.
—NBC News, 16 Apr. 2024
When Dozier approached, Cook grabbed the barrel of the rifle and attempted to wrestle it from Dozier’s hand, but Dozier broke free and fired as Cook attempted to run away, according to police.
—Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The tension in the Middle East is among the reasons U.S. oil prices are up about 20% this year, ranging recently from roughly $85 to $90 a barrel.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 11 Apr. 2024
Gas prices are also rising because of mounting geopolitical tensions in Russia and the Middle East, with Brent crude earlier this month surging beyond $90 a barrel and the U.S. benchmark topping $86.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2024
Gas demand rose from 8.72 million to 9.23 million barrels a day, while total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 4.2 million barrels to 227.8 million barrels, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 8 Apr. 2024
Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2024
That storm barreled in from the south and hit the coast south of Big Sur.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Four people riding in a pickup on a southwestern Idaho road died after a train barreled into them at a railroad crossing over the weekend, authorities said.
—Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
The tornado barreled northeast across N.C. 801 at Back Creek Road, snapping and uprooting more trees before hitting Mount Ulla Elementary School, the NWS team found.
—Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 13 Apr. 2024
Asked about another crash involving the software, Phatak disputed NTSB’s contention that Autopilot should not have functioned on the road in Florida where driver Jeremy Banner was killed in 2019 when his Tesla barreled into a semi-truck and slid under its trailer.
—Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
An American in a sundress, strolling through Europe, barreling towards the end.
—Sophie Yun Mancini, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Mar. 2024
The killer nicknamed Smiley sat in the last row of an Alaska Airlines jet, barreling toward Los Angeles and his past.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
He was involved in a collision at the plate during the fourth inning: Mets outfielder Starling Marte was barreling home, attempting to score from third base.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 16 Apr. 2024
Noun
According to head distiller David Bock, using different types of barrels was the key.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 28 Apr. 2024
Additionally, the rain barrel’s debris screen was small in comparison to the size of the rain barrel.
—Nor'adila Hepburn, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2024
Recall that in June 2022, early in the Russia-Ukraine war, Brent oil exceeded $120 a barrel.
—Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
That is below the levels just above $90 a barrel seen on Friday before the weekend attacks.
—NBC News, 16 Apr. 2024
When Dozier approached, Cook grabbed the barrel of the rifle and attempted to wrestle it from Dozier’s hand, but Dozier broke free and fired as Cook attempted to run away, according to police.
—Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The tension in the Middle East is among the reasons U.S. oil prices are up about 20% this year, ranging recently from roughly $85 to $90 a barrel.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 11 Apr. 2024
Gas prices are also rising because of mounting geopolitical tensions in Russia and the Middle East, with Brent crude earlier this month surging beyond $90 a barrel and the U.S. benchmark topping $86.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2024
Gas demand rose from 8.72 million to 9.23 million barrels a day, while total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 4.2 million barrels to 227.8 million barrels, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 8 Apr. 2024
Verb
The result: Freeman will stop hitting fastballs for opposite-field line drives, or barrel up breaking pitches into the right-center field gap.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2024
That storm barreled in from the south and hit the coast south of Big Sur.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Four people riding in a pickup on a southwestern Idaho road died after a train barreled into them at a railroad crossing over the weekend, authorities said.
—Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
The tornado barreled northeast across N.C. 801 at Back Creek Road, snapping and uprooting more trees before hitting Mount Ulla Elementary School, the NWS team found.
—Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 13 Apr. 2024
Asked about another crash involving the software, Phatak disputed NTSB’s contention that Autopilot should not have functioned on the road in Florida where driver Jeremy Banner was killed in 2019 when his Tesla barreled into a semi-truck and slid under its trailer.
—Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
An American in a sundress, strolling through Europe, barreling towards the end.
—Sophie Yun Mancini, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Mar. 2024
The killer nicknamed Smiley sat in the last row of an Alaska Airlines jet, barreling toward Los Angeles and his past.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
He was involved in a collision at the plate during the fourth inning: Mets outfielder Starling Marte was barreling home, attempting to score from third base.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 16 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barrel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near barrel
Cite this Entry
“Barrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrel. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
barrel
2 of 2 verb
barreled or barrelled; barreling or barrelling
: to travel at a high speed
barreling down the highway
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