Adjacent Words

Barrel definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BAR'REL, n.
1. A vessel or cask, of more length than breadth, round and bulging in the middle, made of staves and heading, and bound with hoops.
2. The quantity which a barrel contains. Of wine measure, the English barrel contains 31 l/2 gallons, of beer measure, 36 gallons; of ale, 32 gallons; and of beer-vinegar, 34 gallons.
Of weight, a barrel of Essex butter is 106 pounds; of Suffolk butter,256, a barrel of herring should contain 32 gallons wine measure, and hold 1000 herrings; a barrel of salmon should contain 42 gallons; a barrel of soap should weigh 256 lbs.
In America, the contents of a barrel are regulated by statutes.
In Connecticut, the barrel for liquors must contain 31 l/2 gallons, each gallon to contain 231 cubic inches. In New York, a barrel of flour by statute must contain either 196 lb. or 228 lb.net weight. The barrel of beef and pork in New York and Connecticut, is 200 lbs. In general, the contents of barrels, as defined by statute, in this country, must be fRomans 28 to 31 1/2 gallons.
3. Any thing hollow and long, as the barrel of a gun; a tube.
4. A cylinder; as the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled, and round which is wound the chain.
5. A cavity behind the tympanum of the ear is called the barrel of the ear. It is four or five lines deep, and five or six wide, and covered with a fine membrane. It is more usually called the cavity of the tympanum.
BAR'REL, v.t. To put in a barrel; to pack in a barrel with salt for preservation, as to barrel beef, pork or fish.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired [syn: barrel, gun barrel]
2: a cylindrical container that holds liquids [syn: barrel, cask]
3: a bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends [syn: barrel, drum]
4: the quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold [syn: barrel, barrelful]
5: any of various units of capacity; "a barrel of beer is 31 gallons and a barrel of oil is 42 gallons" [syn: barrel, bbl] v
1: put in barrels

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English barel, from Anglo-French baril Date: 14th century 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 • barreled adjective II. verb (-reled or -relled; -reling or -relling) Date: 15th century transitive verb to put or pack in a barrel intransitive verb to move at a high speed or without hesitation

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a cylindrical container usu. bulging out in the middle, traditionally made of wooden staves with metal hoops round them. 2 the contents of this. 3 a measure of capacity, usu. varying from 30 to 40 gallons. 4 a cylindrical tube forming part of an object such as a gun or a pen. 5 the belly and loins of a four-legged animal, e.g. a horse. --v. (barrelled, barrelling; US barreled, barreling) 1 tr. put into a barrel or barrels. 2 intr. US sl. drive fast. Phrases and idioms: barrel-chested having a large rounded chest. barrel-organ a mechanical musical instrument in which a rotating pin-studded cylinder acts on a series of pipe-valves, strings, or metal tongues. barrel roll an aerobatic manoeuvre in which an aircraft follows a single turn of a spiral while rolling once about its longitudinal axis. barrel vault Archit. a vault forming a half cylinder. over a barrel colloq. in a helpless position; at a person's mercy. Etymology: ME f. OF baril perh. f. Rmc.: rel to BAR(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vault Vault (v[add]lt; see Note, below), n. [OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. vo[^u]te, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See Voluble, and cf. Vault a leap, Volt a turn, Volute.] 1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray. 2. An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, use for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. ``Charnel vaults.'' --Milton. The silent vaults of death. --Sandys. To banish rats that haunt our vault. --Swift. 3. The canopy of heaven; the sky. That heaven's vault should crack. --Shak. 4. [F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above.] A leap or bound. Specifically: (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet. (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like. Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation. Barrel, Cradle, Cylindrical, or Wagon, vault (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see Rampant vault, under Rampant), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church. Coved vault. (Arch.) See under 1st Cove, v. t. Groined vault (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault. Rampant vault. (Arch.) See under Rampant. Ribbed vault (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character. Vault light, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Barrel Bar"rel (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Barreled (-r[e^]ld), or Barrelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Barreling, or Barrelling.] To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Barrel Bar"rel (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), n.[OE. barel, F. baril, prob. fr. barre bar. Cf. Barricade.] 1. A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads. 2. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 311/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds. 3. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(barrels, barrelling, barrelled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: in AM, use 'barreling', 'barreled' 1. A barrel is a large, round container for liquids or food. The wine is aged for almost a year in oak barrels. N-COUNT 2. In the oil industry, a barrel is a unit of measurement equal to 159 litres. In 1989, Kuwait was exporting 1.5 million barrels of oil a day... Oil prices were closing at $19.76 a barrel. N-COUNT: oft N of n 3. The barrel of a gun is the tube through which the bullet moves when the gun is fired. He pushed the barrel of the gun into the other man's open mouth. N-COUNT: oft N of n, n N 4. If a vehicle or person is barreling in a particular direction, they are moving very quickly in that direction. (mainly AM) The car was barreling down the street at a crazy speed. = career VERB: V prep/adv 5. see also pork barrel 6. If you say, for example, that someone moves or buys something lock, stock, and barrel, you are emphasizing that they move or buy every part or item of it. They dug up their New Jersey garden and moved it lock, stock, and barrel back home. PHRASE: PHR after v [emphasis] 7. If you say that someone is scraping the barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel, you disapprove of the fact that they are using or doing something of extremely poor quality. (INFORMAL) PHRASE: V inflects [disapproval]

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a vessel used for keeping flour (1 Kings 17:12, 14, 16). The same word (cad) so rendered is also translated "pitcher," a vessel for carrying water (Gen. 24:14; Judg. 7:16).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bar'-el: The word "barrel" in the King James Version (see 1Ki 17:12,14,16; 18:33: "The barrel of meal," "fill four barrels with water," etc.) stands for the large earthenware jar (so the American Standard Revised Version) used in the East for carrying water from the spring or well, and for storing grain, etc., according to a custom that still persists. It is elsewhere (EV) more fitly rendered "pitcher."

See HOUSE; PITCHER, etc.

Moby Thesaurus

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