barb
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any of different species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahrbIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑɹb
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
ichthyology
Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
figuratively
A hurtful or disparaging remark.
us
The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
ornithology
One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.
verb
To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc.
To cover a horse in armor.
Provide with barbs
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ichthyology) Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
Used this way, barb is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
- Family/home
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A region of northern Africa on the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Gibraltar.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Strong wire with barbs at regular intervals used to prevent passage.
A large fixed adjustable chair in which barbers seat their customers.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.