Library / English Dictionary

BARREL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: barrelled    , barrelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cylindrical container that holds liquids

Synonyms:

barrel; cask

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("barrel" is a kind of...):

vessel (an object used as a container (especially for liquids))

Meronyms (parts of "barrel"):

hoop; ring (a rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling)

lag; stave (one of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket)

spigot; tap (a plug for a bunghole in a cask)

bung; spile (a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask)

breech; rear of barrel; rear of tube (opening in the rear of the barrel of a gun where bullets can be loaded)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "barrel"):

beer barrel; beer keg (a barrel that holds beer)

butt (a large cask (especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 hogsheads or 126 gallons))

hogshead (a large cask especially one holding 63 gals)

keg (small cask or barrel)

pickle barrel (a barrel holding vinegar in which cucumbers are pickled)

shook (a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment)

tun (a large cask especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 butts or 252 gals)

wine barrel; wine cask (a barrel that holds wine)

Derivation:

barrel (put in barrels)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired

Synonyms:

barrel; gun barrel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("barrel" is a kind of...):

tube; tubing (conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases)

Holonyms ("barrel" is a part of...):

gun (a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any of various units of capacity

Example:

a barrel of beer is 31 gallons and a barrel of oil is 42 gallons

Synonyms:

barrel; bbl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("barrel" is a kind of...):

United States liquid unit (a liquid unit officially adopted in the United States Customary System)

British capacity unit; Imperial capacity unit (a unit of measure for capacity officially adopted in the British Imperial System; British units are both dry and wet)

Meronyms (parts of "barrel"):

gal; gallon (United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters)

congius; gallon; Imperial gallon (a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 quarts or 4.545 liters)

Holonyms ("barrel" is a part of...):

hogshead (a British unit of capacity for alcoholic beverages)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold

Synonyms:

barrel; barrelful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("barrel" is a kind of...):

containerful (the quantity that a container will hold)

Derivation:

barrel (put in barrels)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends

Synonyms:

barrel; drum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("barrel" is a kind of...):

cylinder (a surface generated by rotating a parallel line around a fixed line)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put in barrels

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "barrel" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

barrel (a cylindrical container that holds liquids)

barrel (the quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is equal to 1,000 liters; 1,000 cubic decimeters; 10(e+6) cubic centimeters; 25.3 cubic feet; 6.29 barrels.

(Cubic Meter, NCI Thesaurus)

The light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’ hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ye-yes, Doady, said Dora, and so I bought a beautiful little barrel of them, and the man said they were very good.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Another time they chanced upon the time-graven wreckage of a hunting lodge, and amid the shreds of rotted blankets John Thornton found a long-barrelled flint-lock.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I must try to remember it and put it down:— It be all fool-talk, lock, stock, and barrel; that's what it be, an' nowt else.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Wolf Larsen had procured a rifle and was throwing a cartridge into the barrel.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

So any man would say except this barrel of lies.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Home came four dozen delightful little pots, half a barrel of sugar, and a small boy to pick the currants for her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He crossed to an oaken cupboard, and as he threw it open I caught a glimpse of glistening rows of parallel barrels, like the pipes of an organ.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His chest was like a barrel, and his forearms were the most powerful that I have ever seen, with deep groves between the smooth-swelling muscles like a piece of water-worn rock.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)