barf
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Of a system: to fail.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahrfIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑɹf
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.
verb
computingslangintransitiveby extension
Of a system: to fail.
uscolloquial
To vomit.
noun
Acronym of Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones And Raw Food, a raw food diet for dogs or cats.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of a system: to fail.
Used this way, barf is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a computing use: it carries a fixed technical meaning inside software and systems work.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Very casual
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Dismissive
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Where it naturally appears
- Technology
- Technical/specialist writing
- Business/professional
Usage note
Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.
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.
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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.