barnstorm

verb barn·storm \ ˈbärn-ˌstȯrm \

Updated on: 24 Mar 2018

Definition of barnstorm

1 : to tour through rural districts staging usually theatrical performances

2 : to travel from place to place making brief stops (as in a political campaign or a promotional tour)

3 : to pilot one's airplane in sightseeing flights with passengers or in exhibition stunts in an unscheduled course especially in rural districts

transitive verb

: to travel across while barnstorming

—

barnstormer

noun

See barnstorm defined for English-language learners

See barnstorm defined for kids

Examples of barnstorm in a Sentence

He spent the months leading up to the election barnstorming around the country.
The national soccer team barnstormed through the country.

Recent Examples of barnstorm from the Web

Their early polling lead has withered in the face of Blankenship barnstorming the state and spending millions of his money.

— tim loh, Bloomberg.com, "The Ex-Con Coal Baron Running for Senate in West Virginia," 19 Mar. 2018
Though candidates — and voters — sometimes forget it, the president has no real authority to force Congress to take action on a specific issue, other than to issue broad veto threats and barnstorm for his proposals.

— ryan teague beckwith, Time, "Why Donald Trump Constantly Makes Promises He Doesn't Intend to Keep," 27 Feb. 2018
Students to state lawmakers — Do Something: About 100 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School barnstormed the Capitol yesterday, talking with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Gov. Rick Scott, and several state representatives and senators.

— dan sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Power Lunch: Stoneman Douglas students leave legislators with lots to do," 22 Feb. 2018
The Warriors had gone on an odd 15-game barnstorming exhibition schedule that passed through Hawaii and a small gym in the Ozark Mountains, and didn’t appear in the Bay Area until days before the regular-season opener.

— peter hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, "Our SF: Photos from the first San Francisco Warriors homestand in 1962," 8 Feb. 2018
Formed in 1989, the band barnstormed the world, playing more than 600 gigs, from West Virginia to Spain, Seattle to Germany.

— john petkovic, cleveland.com, "Cleveland's punkabilly Cowslingers reunite for rare show at Beachland," 4 Jan. 2018
Members of Congress occasionally expressed support for the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — but on the expectation that no barnstorming candidate would ever dare to officially recognize Jerusalem as such if elected president.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "Why Trump Should Consider a Post-Twitter Presidency," 14 Dec. 2017
Brown was among a small group of filmmakers who barnstormed Southern California in the early 1960s with low-budget films about surfing and the beach lifestyle.

— steve marble, latimes.com, "Bruce Brown, who turned surfing into a cultural phenomenon with 'The Endless Summer,' dies at 80," 11 Dec. 2017
For all the noise, irreverence, and distinctive retro vibes…well, the analogy of a hot rod barnstorming a funeral procession comes to mind.

— jordan runtagh, PEOPLE.com, "Liam Gallagher on the Hard Road to His Hard Rocking Comeback: 'Being a Liam Gallagher Fan Must Be F—ing Hard Work'," 25 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'barnstorm.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.