▪ I. barrel, n.
(ˈbærəl)
Forms: 4 barayl, 4–5 barele, 4–6 -ell(e, 4–7 -el, 5 barylle, 5–6 barrelle, 6 beryll, 6–7 barrell, 7– barrel.
[a. F. baril (12th c. in Littrè) = Pr., Pg., Sp. barril, It. barile, med.L. barile, barillus, baurilis (9th c.); cf. also barrale ‘a cask, a measure of liquids’ Du Cange: of unknown origin; Diez thinks possibly a deriv. of barra, bar n.1 The Celtic words (Welsh baril, Gael. baraill, Ir. bairile, Manx barrel) sometimes cited as the source, are all from English.]
I. A cask.
1. a. A cylindrical wooden vessel, generally bulging in the middle and of greater length than breadth, formed of curved staves bound together by hoops, and having flat ends or heads; a cask.
| c 1305 Judas 23 in E.E.P. (1862) 107 He seȝe a barayl..Þer inne hi dude þis liþer child: and amidde þe see hit caste. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 60 Two barylles..ful of bawme. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iv. 57 Place barrelles of pitch vpon the fatall stake. 1604 T. Wright Passions v. 226 Diogenes..satte in his philosophical barrell. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1841 II. 2 This Wood..sends over a great many barrels of those halfpence to Cork. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 401 A barrel of Colchester oysters, his favourite dainties. |
b. With various substantives defining its specific use, as
beer-barrel,
brandy-barrel,
fire-barrel,
herring-barrel,
sugar-barrel,
tar-barrel,
thunder-barrel,
treacle-barrel.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Fire Barrels are casks of divers capacities, filled with bombs, grenados, etc...These are sometimes also called thundering barrels. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlviii, If they burn the Custom-house..we'll lunt like a tar-barrel a' thegither. 1818 ― Rob Roy xxvii, He wadna, for a' the herring-barrels in Glasgow. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. ii. I. 9 Their pasteboard coulisses, thunder-barrels, their kettles, fiddles. Ibid. iii. i. III. 146 Groceries enough: sugar-barrels rolled forth into the street. 1841 Marryat Poacher xxiii, The beer barrel being empty. |
c. In slang
phr. over a barrel [
app. in allusion to the state of a person placed over a barrel to clear his lungs of water after being rescued from drowning], helpless, in someone's power. Chiefly
U.S.| 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xxx. 270 We keep a file on unidentified bullets nowadays. Some day you might use that gun again. Then you'd be over a barrel. 1945 L. McClung Stream runs Fast xv. 129 You sure have me over a barrel. You caught me red-handed. 1963 N. Freeling Because of Cats xi. 175 If he's been fool enough to get himself over a barrel, that's his business. |
2. Used as a measure of capacity both for liquids and dry goods, varying with the commodity.
| 1379 MS. Records Grocers' Comp. 28 a, Reseyns corences i barell. 1382 Wyclif Luke xvi. 6 An hundrid barelis of oyle. 1502 Arnold Chron. (1811) 246 The barell of soep, xxx galones. The barell of aell, xxxii galones. The barell of beer, xxxvi galones. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 21 Corn was then at 50s. per Barrel. 1712 Act 10 Anne in Lond. Gaz. No. 5012/1 A Barrel of Soap is to contain 256 pound. 1749 Reynardson in Phil. Trans. XLVI. 57, 36 Gallons..were to be reckoned as a Barrel of Beer, and 32 such Gallons a Barrel of Ale. 1862 F. Griffiths Artill. Man. 92 Whole Barrels [of gunpowder] contain 100 lb. |
3. a. By metonymy: The contents of a barrel; intoxicating liquor.
Cf. ‘the bottle.’
| c 1300 K. Alis. 28 For they no haveth no joye..Bote in the gutte, and the barell. 1798 W. Hutton Fam. Hutton 104 When in liquor he was good-natured. His children knew his weak side, and omitted to ask a favour till the barrel worked. |
b. (in
U.S. political slang): Money for use in a political campaign,
esp. for corrupt purposes.
| 1884 Boston (Mass.) Herald 18 Sept., There is a plenty of evidence that the head of Mr. Lodge's barrel has already been knocked in. 1884 Savannah News Aug., It would be much better for General Butler if he would turn one of his barrels over to the Democratic campaign committee. |
† 4. abstr. Brand, quality, sort. See
herring.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 165 b, Twoo feloes beeyng lyke flagicious, and neither barell better hearyng, accused either other. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse 32 Therefore of both barrelles, I judge Cookes and Painters the better hearing. 1659 Gauden Tears Ch. 245 (D.) There meanest comrades, which are of the same bran and barrell with themselves. 1789 H. Walpole Corr. (1820) IV. 490 (D.) A committee of those Amazons stopped the Duke of Orleans, who, to use their style, I believe is not a barrel the better herring. |
II. Things cylindrical or shaped like a barrel.
5. a. A revolving cylinder or drum, round which a chain or rope is wound, in various machines and appliances;
e.g. that of a capstan, jack, wheel, windlass.
Hence b. the cylindrical box, containing the main-spring of a watch, round which the chain is wound.
c. the revolving cylinder of a musical box, barrel-organ, etc., in which are fixed the pins that strike the keys.
d. A cylindrical button used in conjunction with a loop of braid as an ornamental fastening of a coat.
| a. c 1500 Cocke Lorelles B. 12 Some pulde at the beryll..Some howysed the mayne sayle. 1611 Cotgr., The barrell of a windlesse, Moulinet. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Barrel of a jack is the cylindrical part whereon the line is wound. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Drosse..the tiller-rope..wound about the barrel of a ship's wheel. c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 94 Barrel, the main piece of a capstan or steering-wheel. |
| b. 1591 in Mod. Lang. Rev. (1951) XLVI. 323 For peisinge ye spindle of ye howre wheele & ii newe bushes for ye barrell of ye same wheele. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Barrel of a clock is a cylindrical part, about which the string is wound. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 31 [A] Barrel hook..[is] a pin in the barrel to which the mainspring is attached; Barrel Hollow..[is] the sink cut in the top plate of a watch to give freedom to the barrel; Barrel Cover..[is] a lid that snaps into a rebate in the barrel. |
| c. 1659 J. Leak Water-wks. 32 Make the Musical Barrel to turn..and the Pins that are put upon the said Barrel, shall touch the keys. 1876 Emerson Ess. Ser. ii. ii. 98 The revolving barrel of the music-box. |
| d. 1898 Daily News 12 Nov. 6/3 Frogs and barrels are adapted to the otherwise plain red coats. 1900 Ibid. 29 Dec. 6/6 The fronts are fitted out with braided frogs and barrels. |
6. a. A (usually hollow) cylinder forming part of various objects;
esp. b. one forming the trunk or body,
e.g. of a pump, engine-boiler, bell, feather.
| a. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict., Curry-Comb..consists of these Parts, 1. The Barrel or Back of the Comb. 1874 Boutell Arms & Arm. ix. 173 The barrel (fusée), which is the hilt itself, adapted to be grasped by the hand. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Barrel, a piece of small pipe inserted in the end of a cartridge to carry the squib to the powder. |
| b. 1659 J. Leak Water-wks. 17 If the Water be not high enough between the top of the Barrel and the Bucket. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. I. 350/1 All feathers are composed of a quill or barrel. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. i. 4 The various parts of a bell may be described as the body or barrel, etc. 1882 Law Rep. Appeal IX. 429 The trunk or barrel of the tree. 1884 Leis. Ho. Sept. 533/2 Three lengths of cylinder, firmly riveted together, form what is called the barrel of the boiler [of a locomotive engine]. |
c. slang. (A nickname for) a corpulent person.
| 1909 Ld. Harcourt in Daily Chron. 16 July 1/5 When that measure reached the House of Lords it was met with a barricade of barrels insufficiently disguised in robes and coronets. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 168 The unfortunate fat boy..is known as:..barrel, barrel-belly, [etc.]. |
7. The metal tube of a gun, through which the bullet or shot is discharged. Hence in
single-barrel,
double-barrel, etc., of the whole weapon.
| a 1648 Digby (J.) Take the barrel of a long gun perfectly bored. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4140/3 We also took 10 Pieces of Cannon, 8 whereof were treble Barrels. 1858 W. Ellis Vis. Madagascar iv. 96 The long tin barrel of a painted gun. |
8. The belly and loins of a horse, ox, etc.
| 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3948/4 A dun Gelding..with a round Barrel. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 151 Lofty is his neck, And elegant his head, his barrel short. 1880 B. Harte Jeff. Briggs ii, His legs clasping the barrel of his horse. |
9. Phys. The cavity of the ear situated within the membrane of the tympanum.
10. Comb. a. objective, as
barrel-forger,
barrel-maker;
b. attrib. (simply), as
barrel-barricade,
barrel-board,
barrel-form,
barrel-frame,
barrel-head; (
= packed in barrels), as
barrel-butter,
barrel-figs,
barrel-soap;
c. similative, as
barrel-belly,
barrel-bodied,
barrel-churn,
barrel-shaped. See also 5 c.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. v. v. I. 225 Cram the earth in *barrel-barricades. |
| 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. Pref., The ydell and *barrell bealies of monkes. |
| 1565 Act 8 Eliz. ix. §2 Coopers might have bought a Thousand of *Barrel-boards for twelve Shillings. |
| 1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping I. xiv. 219 Nipper, fat, puffing, and *barrel-bodied. |
| 1743 Ellis Mod. Husb. May 101 When the Cream is ready, carefully strain it..into the *Barrel Churn. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. pl. XXII, The improved barrel-churn with wheel. 1853 Barrel-churn [see dasher 2]. 1853 ‘A Lady’ Facts: Experiences Rec. Colonist N.Z. iv. 34 The second churn for the larger quantity had better be a barrel churn fixed on a stand. |
| 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 116 Dry or *barrell Figs. |
| 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5873/4 William Thomas, late of White-Chappel, *Barrel Forger. |
| 1874 Parker Ill. Goth. Archit. i. iii. 80 The earliest Norman Vaults are..of the *barrel form. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Exp. I. xxix. 386 A magnificent hut of *barrel-frames. |
| 1883 Glasg. Weekly Her. 1 Sept. 4/2 Herring fishery..finds profitable labour for..*barrelmakers. |
| 1869 Nicholson Zool. (1880) xxiv. 241 A free-swimming,·*barrel-shaped ciliated body. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4674/7 English *Barrel Soap for 48s. a Barrel. |
11. Special combinations:
barrel-amalgamation (see
quot.);
barrel-bellied,
-stomached a., having a well-rounded belly;
barrel-bird,
dial. name of the long-tailed tit;
barrel bolt, a bolt made to slide into a barrel-shaped socket;
barrel-bulk, a measure used in estimating capacity (
e.g. of a vessel for freight) equal to five cubic feet;
barrel cactus, the genus
Echinocactus;
barrel-campaign (in
U.S.), a political contest in which bribery is lavishly employed;
barrel-chair U.S., an upholstered chair having a back shaped like a barrel;
barrel-chest (see
quot. 1907); so
barrel-chested adj.;
barrel distortion Optics (see
quot. 1953);
barrel-drain, a cylindrical brick drain;
barrel-fever, disease produced by immoderate drinking;
barrel-fish, the black rudder-fish,
Lirus perciformis, found off the
U.S. coast;
barrelful, as much as a barrel will hold;
barrel-head, (either) flat end of a barrel;
barrel-like a., resembling a barrel;
barrel-pen, one with a split cylindrical shank, which can be fitted on a wooden holder;
barrel-plating (see
quot.);
barrel roll, an aeronautical feat in which an aeroplane makes a complete revolution about the longitudinal axis; so as
v. intr., to make a barrel-roll;
barrel-scraping vbl. n., the action or result of ‘scraping the barrel’ (see
scrape v.); so
barrel-scraper;
barrel-scraping ppl. a.;
barrel-sewer (
cf. barrel-drain);
barrel shop U.S., a low-class drinking-saloon;
barrel-vault, one with a simple semi-cylindrical roof, whence
barrel-vaulted;
barrel winding Electr., an armature winding in which the end connections lie flat upon a cylindrical surface;
barrel-work (see
quot.). See also
barrel-organ.
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Barrel-amalgamation, the amalgamation of silver ores by revolution in wooden barrels with quicksilver, etc. |
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 126 The Colt, that for a Stallion is design'd..Sharp-headed, *Barrel-belly'd. 1856 J. Grant Bl. Dragoon xli, His barrel-bellied charger. |
| 1865 Cornh. Mag. July 36 The rustic..call[s] the long-tailed tit..the *‘barrel-bird,’ from its making a long moss and lichen-woven nest. |
| 1909 Webster, *Barrel bolt. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XV. 482/2 Among locks and fastenings the ordinary barrel or tower bolt needs no description. 1930 Engineering 2 May 564/2 Turned barrel bolts were used for connecting the brackets to the post webs. |
| 1720 J. Steuart Letter-Book 22 Aug. (1915) 122 If William Binie Desires two *barell bulk home, let him have it. 1853 Harper's Mag. VI. 581/2 Freights from Detroit to Lake Superior ports are usually $1 the barrel bulk. |
| 1881 Amer. Naturalist XV. 984 The ‘nigger-head’ or ‘*barrel’ cactus. |
| 1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 1 Nov. 1 We are accustomed to *‘barrel’ campaigns here. Nobody supposes this district to be Democratic, but the Democrats depend upon carrying it with money. |
| 1850 A. J. Downing Arch. Country Ho. (1853) xii. 414 Another of the cheapest and simplest seats for a cottage is the *barrel-chair. 1947 Downtown Shop. News (Chicago) 10 Feb. 15 (D.A.), Curved back barrel chairs foster that new look in fine furniture. |
| 1907 Gould Practitioner's Med. Dict. 267/2 *Barrel-chest, a peculiar formation of the chest observed in cases of long-standing emphysema of the lungs. |
| 1961 Webster, *Barrel-chested. 1961 J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xxi. 212 The wing commander was a blunt, chunky, barrel-chested man in his early fifties. |
| 1889 *Barrel distortion [see view n. 19 b]. 1903 Beck & Andrews Photogr. Lenses iii. 73 These two types of distortion found in single lenses are known as ‘barrel’ and ‘pin-cushion’ distortion. 1929 G. H. Gliddon Opt. Replica Human Eye 21 At 20 degrees a trace of barrel distortion developed. 1937 A. T. Witts Television Cycl. 16 Barrel Distortion, the type of distortion produced by defective optical systems that causes a square image to have rounded (convex) sides, similar to the form of a barrel. 1953 Amos & Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. ix. 187 When distortion is present, the image of a rectangular object has sides which curve inwards (pincushion distortion) or outwards (barrel distortion), depending whether the magnification increases or decreases with distance from the centre of the image field. |
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. Price-bk. 117 The contents of gun-*barrel drains. |
| 1884 Goode et al. Nat. Hist. Useful Aquatic Anim. i. 334 This fish is also called by the fishermen ‘Log-fish’ and ‘*Barrel-fish’. 1885 J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 191 The fishermen call them barrel-fish, though the most usual name is rudder-fish. 1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Is. (ed. 2) 71 The barrel-fish..secretes itself in floating barrels or boxes. |
| 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 301 Thus saistow, *olde barel ful of lies. 1436 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 169 To drinke a barelle fulle Of gode berkyne. 1865 Rtldg's. Mag. Boys Nov. 680 Another barrel-full of air is removed. |
| 1840 Carlyle Heroes vi. 352 Who cannot do without standing on *barrel-heads, to spout. |
| 1911 Handbk. Electro-Plating, Polishing (ed. 4) 58 The Mechanical Plating of small articles in a barrel, revolving in a solution of the metal to be deposited, has reached a stage where developments in *Barrel Plating can be looked forward to. |
| 1927 in Amer. Speech (1930) V. 210 She looped, *barrel-rolled, tail-spinned..and then swooped some. 1932 Auden Orators ii. 69 Went into a barrel roll at 8000 ft. and never came out. |
| 1959 Observer 11 Jan. 18/6 A makeweight in a volume of *barrel-scrapings. Ibid. 15 Feb. 21/6 These over-edited, barrel-scraping volumes. Ibid. 15 Mar. 20/8 As for the Sunday-night offerings [on television], they were both barrel-scrapers. 1961 Guardian 22 June 8/7 The significance which critical barrel-scraping has bestowed on him. |
| 1904 N.Y. Tribune 12 Oct. 1 A poisonous substitute for whiskey sold in the low ‘*barrel shops’ along Tenth Avenue. |
| 1884 Littell's Living Age No. 2077, 90 Your..*barrel-stomached..Chinese porker. |
| 1849 Freeman Archit. 252 *Barrel-vaults prevail throughout the..building. |
| 1825 Ann. Reg. 1824 276*/2 Three large connected chambers, all *barrel-vaulted. 1851 Turner Dom. Archit. I. vi. 214 The passage..is barrel vaulted. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 583/2 For multipolar armatures with two or more layers of inductors, ‘surface’ or ‘*barrel’ winding is now extensively used. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Barrel-work (Lake Sup.), native copper occurring in pieces of a size to be sorted out by hand in sufficient purity for smelting without mechanical concentration. |
Add:
[I.] [2.] b. In
fig. phr. barrel of fun (laughs, etc.): (the source of) a great deal of enjoyment or entertainment.
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1915 Dialect Notes IV. 243, I had a barrel of fun when I went to Maccasin. 1939 L. Brown Beer Barrel Polka 4 Roll out the barrel We'll have a barrel of fun. 1977 Washington Post 8 June b1 No one has ever accused Princess Anne of being a barrel of laughs. 1981 Verbatim Spring (Bk. Club Catal.) 3/3 (Advt.), A wonderful object to..have a barrel of fun with. 1986 Parents Sept. 72/3 What they haven't bargained for is a wife who is so tired..that she's even less of a barrel of laughs than she was while pregnant. |
▪ II. barrel, v. (
ˈbærəl)
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To put, pack, store up, or stow away, in a barrel or barrels.
| 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 210 My mastyr sent to the kervelle iij. oxsen barellede. c 1525 More De Quat. Nouiss. 74/1 Iseland loueth no butter till it bee long barrelled. 1624 Donne Devotions 43 (T.) That perverse man, that barrelled himself in a tub. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Caqueurs, sailors appointed to cure and barrel the herring. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. III. viii. v. 34 Show him how..the beer [is] drawn off, barrelled. |
b. often emphasized with
up.
Cf. barrelet.
| 1631 Speed Prosp. World 30 Much provision..barrelled vp for longer keeping. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xxii. 347 Barrel it up, with two or three spoonfuls of good yeast. |
2. gen. To store up.
| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet B ij, If Martin haue not barrelde vp all rakehell words. 1649 Milton Eikon. xvi. Wks. (1851) 456 All benefit and use of Scripture, as to public prayer, should be deny'd us, except what was barreld up in a Common-praier Book. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 101 The tendrils of the cucumber..barrel up for his use, the most cooling juices of the soil. |
3. to barrel off: to transfer into barrels.
| 1756 J. Lloyd in W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. (1757) 50 These..Grotts were barrell'd off. |
4. intr. To move or travel quickly,
esp. in a motor vehicle. Freq. with
advb. (
phr.). Also
fig. slang (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
| 1930 Amer. Speech V. 305 Barrel, make haste or hurry, or cause to make haste. Used especially of vehicles. ‘They went barreling up the hill for dinner.’ 1943 Yank 3 Dec. 9 We dove for that, sweating bullets as I barreled over Shimushu at 800 feet full throttle. 1957 New Yorker 2 Nov. 47/1 He thought nothing of barrelling down to Munich at eighty miles an hour. a 1963 J. Lusby in ‘B. James’ Austral. Short Stories (1963) 237 A Hurri was plunging abreast of me, barrelling. 1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xxv. 192, I heard him barrelling by on my starboard. 1971 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 20 June 31/5 Gravel trucks ‘barrelling’ through a residential area are worrying the parents of children. 1984 Bulletin (Sydney) 23 Oct. 165/1 Deng Xiaoping barreled on down the capitalist road last week—but he might be headed for a collision. 1985 Truck & Driver June 43/2 For lap after lap he tried, coming faster out of Clark Curve on the outside, and barreling along Brabham straight. |