barge
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A large flat-bottomed towed or self-propelled boat used mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods or bulk cargo.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahrjIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑɹdʒ
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
nautical
A large flat-bottomed towed or self-propelled boat used mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods or bulk cargo.
nautical
A flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals)
A richly decorated ceremonial state vessel propelled by rowers for river processions.
A large flat-bottomed coastal trading vessel having a large spritsail and jib-headed topsail, a fore staysail and a very small mizen, and having leeboards instead of a keel.
us
A double-decked passenger or freight vessel, towed by a steamboat.
One of the boats of a warship having fourteen oars
verb
Push one's way
“She barged into the meeting room.”
To intrude or break through, particularly in an unwelcome or clumsy manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A large flat-bottomed towed or self-propelled boat used mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods or bulk cargo.
Used this way, barge is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
- 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
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- flatboat , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use barge
- “She barged into the meeting room.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Enter uninvited.
A long pole used to propel or guide a barge.
A system of canals crossing New York State and connecting the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and Lake Champlain.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.