# barrel

Pronunciation: say "BA-ruhl" US /ˈbæɹəl/, UK /ˈbæɹ(ə)l/, AUS /ˈbæɹəɫ/

## Noun

1. A cylindrical wooden vessel with bulging sides, made of staves bound by hoops and closed with flat ends; sometimes also a similar metal drum.
   - Simple: A round wooden container with curved sides, held together by metal rings and flat at both ends.
   - _We rolled the heavy barrel of cider into the cellar._
   - _The brewery stacks empty barrels along the back wall._
2. The metallic tube of a gun or firearm through which a projectile is discharged.
   - Simple: The long metal tube of a gun that a bullet travels through when fired.
   - _The rifle's barrel had been rifled to spin the bullet for accuracy._
   - _Soldiers swabbed the cannon barrels between rounds._
3. A measured quantity equal to the contents of one full cask, the exact volume or weight varying by local law and custom.
   - Simple: A unit for measuring liquids or goods, equal to one full container of a set amount.
   - _Oil prices rose sharply, adding ten dollars to every barrel._
   - _The brewery shipped forty barrels to the festival._
5. A cask of a defined capacity, holding one-eighth of the volume contained by a tun.
   - Simple: A cask of a fixed size that holds one-eighth of what a large tun holds.
   - _Each barrel held exactly one-eighth of a tun in the old measure._
   - _The merchant counted his barrels before loading the ship._
6. A cylindrical part of a mechanism, whether a solid drum or a hollow tube or case.
   - Simple: A round, tube-shaped part inside a machine, either solid or hollow.
   - _The pump's barrel drew water up with each stroke._
   - _Inside the lock, a rotating barrel turns when the key fits._
8. A breaking wave that curls into a hollow, tube-shaped compartment a surfer can ride inside.
   - Simple: A wave that curls over to make a hollow tube of water as it breaks.
   - _She disappeared into the barrel and shot out the other end._
   - _The point break produces clean barrels on a strong swell._
9. The short cylindrical section of a clarinet that connects the mouthpiece to the upper joint.
   - Simple: The short tube on a clarinet that joins the mouthpiece to the main body.
   - _He replaced the barrel with a longer one to lower the pitch._
   - _Moisture collects in the barrel during long rehearsals._
10. The rounded body of a horse or pony formed by the ribs and belly.
   - Simple: The rounded middle part of a horse, made up of its ribs and belly.
   - _A deep barrel gives a horse room for strong lungs._
   - _The vet ran her hands along the pony's barrel to check for swelling._
11. A large cylindrical container used for collecting trash or refuse. *(dialectal, New England, US)*
   - Simple: A large container for holding trash or garbage.
   - _She dragged the barrel to the curb on collection day._
   - _City workers emptied the barrels along the boardwalk every morning._
12. In baseball, a batted-ball classification based on the combination of launch angle and exit velocity that tends to produce hits.
   - Simple: In baseball, a really well-hit ball, judged by its speed and angle off the bat.
   - _The analyst noted that the rookie produced more barrels than anyone else on the roster._
   - _A barrel almost always falls for extra bases._
13. The hollow base of a feather, the lower section of the shaft that anchors it in the bird's skin.
   - Simple: The hollow lower part of a feather, where it attaches to the bird.
   - _Ink pens were once cut from the hollow barrel of a goose feather._
   - _The barrels of the flight feathers are firmly seated in follicles along the wing._
14. In a carburetor, the venturi tube through which air is drawn and mixed with fuel.
   - Simple: In an engine, the tube in a carburetor where air speeds up and mixes with fuel.
   - _The engine ran a carburetor with four barrels for high performance._
   - _Air rushing through the barrel creates the suction that pulls in fuel._
16. In television and stage lighting, a tube mounted to the ceiling from which lighting instruments are hung.
   - Simple: In TV and theater, a tube fixed to the ceiling that stage lights hang from.
   - _Technicians rigged the new fixtures to the barrel before the broadcast._
   - _Each barrel carried its own circuit so the lights could be controlled separately._
17. In the rodent somatosensory cortex, one of the dark-staining regions that receives touch signals from the opposite side of the body by way of the thalamus.
   - Simple: In a rodent's brain, one of the dark patches that take in touch signals from the opposite side of the body.
   - _Researchers mapped how each barrel corresponds to an individual whisker on the snout._
   - _Activity in the barrels increased when the animal's whiskers brushed an object._

## Verb

4. To move rapidly and often without control, rushing headlong in one direction.
   - Simple: To move very fast, often without proper control.
   - _She barreled into the room without knocking._
   - _Cars barrel along the freeway during rush hour._
7. To place or pack goods into a barrel or barrels for storage or transport.
   - Simple: To put something into a barrel for storing or moving it.
   - _Each fall the farmers barrel their surplus pears for market._
   - _The packers barreled the salted herring before dawn._
15. Of a displayed image, to take on a convex, cask-like shape in which the sides bulge outward and straight lines bow away from the center.
   - Simple: To curve outward at the sides, so straight lines in a picture bow out.
   - _Wide-angle footage tends to barrel, bending the horizon into a gentle curve._
   - _The picture barreled slightly, so the building's edges looked rounded._

## Noun

18. Any tube or hollow cylindrical pipe, regardless of its purpose. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A hollow tube or pipe of any kind.
   - _The physician fitted a slender barrel to drain the wound._
   - _Smoke escaped through narrow barrels set into the chimney wall._
19. A jar or earthen vessel used for storing food or liquids. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A jar or pot for holding food or drink.

## Origin

From Middle English "barel", borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French "baril" ("barrel"), of uncertain origin. One theory links it to a Germanic word for a transport container, from Proto-Indo-European "bʰer-" ("to carry"), which fits both the form and the meaning better than the alternative attempt to connect it to a word for "bar."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/barrel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).