barrel

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A round vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

baruhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbæɹəl

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

countable
A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.
Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun holds.
A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case
The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.

verb

intransitive
To assume the shape of a barrel; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit barrel distortion, where the sides bulge outwards.
intransitive
To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.
transitive
To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

Used this way, barrel 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: Moderate
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.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use barrel

“A barrel of beer is 31 gallons and a barrel of oil is 42 gallons.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Round / cylindrical

cracker barrelinch barrel

Clarinet

barrel chest

Other combinations

gun barrelpork barrelbarrel vaultbarrel organrifle barrel

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

barrelsnounPlural form
The amount that many barrels might hold.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

barrel rollnounCompound term
A roll in which the plane follows a spiral course.
barrel vaultnounCompound term
The simplest form of vault.
barrel knotnounCompound term
A knot used for tying fishing leaders together.
barrel cactusnounCompound term
A cactus of the genus Ferocactus: unbranched barrel-shaped cactus having deep ribs with numerous spines and usually large funnel-shaped flowers followed by dry fruits.
barrel makernounCompound term
A craftsman who makes or repairs wooden barrels or tubs.
barrel organnounCompound term
A musical instrument that makes music by rotation of a cylinder studded with pegs.

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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.