barrel

¹bar·rel

noun \ˈber-əl, ˈba-rəl\

Definition of BARREL

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 (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: 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

4

: the trunk of a quadruped

— bar·reled \-əld\ adjective

— on the barrel

: asking for or granting no credit

— over a barrel

: at a disadvantage : in an awkward position

Examples of BARREL

1. Oak barrels are used for aging the wine.
2. The price of oil is over 30 dollars a barrel.
3. They drank a whole barrel of beer.
4. the barrel of a gun

Origin of BARREL

Middle English barel, from Anglo-French baril

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to BARREL

Synonyms

abundance, lot, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (also lashins) [chiefly British], loads, 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

Antonyms

ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace

Related Words

epidemic, plague, rash; bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus; deluge, flood, overflow; army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng; gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion

Near Antonyms

atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit; smatter, smattering; dash, drop, morsel, shot; piece, portion, section; absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want; deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

Rhymes with BARREL

aril, carol, carrel, parol, parrel

²barrel

verb

barreled or barrelled barrel·ing or barrel·ling

Definition of BARREL

transitive verb

: to put or pack in a barrel

intransitive verb

: to move at a high speed or without hesitation

Examples of BARREL

1. The truck went barreling down Main Street.
2. She came running out of her office and went barreling past us down the hall.

First Known Use of BARREL

15th century

Related to BARREL

Synonyms

hurry, 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, 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

Antonyms

crawl, creep, poke

Related Words

beetle, dart, flit, scamper, scud, scuffle; stampede, streak, whiz (or whizz); gallop, jog, sprint; accelerate, quicken, step out; catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtake; arrow, beeline

Near Antonyms

dally, dawdle, dillydally, drag, hang (around or out), lag, linger, loiter, poke, tarry; amble, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stroll; decelerate, slow (down or up)

Rhymes with BARREL

carol, parol