1
: a medieval cloth headdress passing over or under the chin and covering the neck
2
a
: a sharp projection extending backward (as from the point of an arrow or fishhook) and preventing easy extraction
also
: a sharp projection with its point similarly oblique to something else
b
: a biting or pointedly critical remark or comment
3
4
: any of the side branches of the shaft of a feather see feather illustration
5
: a plant hair or bristle ending in a hook
: any of a northern African breed of horses that are noted for speed and endurance
slang
Synonyms
Examples of barb in a Sentence
Noun (1)
delivered one last barb to his ex-girlfriend as he stalked away
Recent Examples on the Web
Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 12 June 2024
The thrust of the barbs traded during the largely cordial, but occasionally tense, U.S. Senate candidate forum featuring David Trone and Angela Alsobrooks on Friday were rooted in campaign funding and who has the ability to beat the likely Republican nominee, Larry Hogan.
—Hannah Gaskill, Baltimore Sun, 23 Apr. 2024
In flight feathers, the barbs interlock like Velcro teeth to form the smooth, windproof surface of the vanes.
—Michael B. Habib, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024
China and the United States jab accusatory fingers at each other, blame each other for bad policies, and trade barbs about a global economic downturn from which both countries and the world have yet to recover.
—Henry M. Paulson Jr., Foreign Affairs, 26 Jan. 2023
Drake and Lamar’s back-and-forth diss tracks are still dominating social media as fans react to the duo getting extremely personal, and trading barbs about one-another’s families and personal lives.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 5 May 2024
Scott and Bates traded barbs over the citation docket, an initiative Bates is pushing to prosecute low-level crimes.
—Emily Opilo, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024
First, Greene’s barb about the eyelashes was racist.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024
But the tongue-in-cheek barbs didn’t faze Airbnb cofounder Chesky, who alongside Joe Gebbia became one of the first hosts on the platform in 2007.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 20 May 2024
CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
Hammel is an appealing screen presence, tossing off inappropriate remarks with blithe abandon and making Karla the sort of friend who’s both endearing and exasperating — her affection often barbed and her opportunism unapologetic.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Eventually two more whole points and fragments of five others turned up, all of them elaborately barbed and polished.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Her name is Cleve, and she is played by an exceptional Clare Perkins, whose delivery is barbed and steely.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
That’s okay when a lively minnow is barbed through the lips or nostrils, but when fishing cover, baits often pull off quickly.
—Bob McNally, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
Noun
Former cult members are weighing in, and Derrick and her sister have been trading barbs back and forth via Instagram.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 12 June 2024
The thrust of the barbs traded during the largely cordial, but occasionally tense, U.S. Senate candidate forum featuring David Trone and Angela Alsobrooks on Friday were rooted in campaign funding and who has the ability to beat the likely Republican nominee, Larry Hogan.
—Hannah Gaskill, Baltimore Sun, 23 Apr. 2024
In flight feathers, the barbs interlock like Velcro teeth to form the smooth, windproof surface of the vanes.
—Michael B. Habib, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024
China and the United States jab accusatory fingers at each other, blame each other for bad policies, and trade barbs about a global economic downturn from which both countries and the world have yet to recover.
—Henry M. Paulson Jr., Foreign Affairs, 26 Jan. 2023
Drake and Lamar’s back-and-forth diss tracks are still dominating social media as fans react to the duo getting extremely personal, and trading barbs about one-another’s families and personal lives.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 5 May 2024
Scott and Bates traded barbs over the citation docket, an initiative Bates is pushing to prosecute low-level crimes.
—Emily Opilo, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024
First, Greene’s barb about the eyelashes was racist.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024
But the tongue-in-cheek barbs didn’t faze Airbnb cofounder Chesky, who alongside Joe Gebbia became one of the first hosts on the platform in 2007.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 20 May 2024
Verb
The landscape around it lay newly barbed with cannon, mortars, and bombproof shelters, these installed by hundreds of captive workers whose labor was donated by their Charleston owners.
—CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
Hammel is an appealing screen presence, tossing off inappropriate remarks with blithe abandon and making Karla the sort of friend who’s both endearing and exasperating — her affection often barbed and her opportunism unapologetic.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Eventually two more whole points and fragments of five others turned up, all of them elaborately barbed and polished.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Her name is Cleve, and she is played by an exceptional Clare Perkins, whose delivery is barbed and steely.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
That’s okay when a lively minnow is barbed through the lips or nostrils, but when fishing cover, baits often pull off quickly.
—Bob McNally, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barb.' 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 barb
Cite this Entry
“Barb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barb. Accessed 18 Jun. 2024.
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barb
noun
slang
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