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Synonyms

barrel

American  
[bar-uhl] / ˈbær əl /

noun

  1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.

  2. the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31½ U.S. gallons (119 L); for petroleum, 42 U.S. gallons (159 L); for dry materials, 105 U.S. dry quarts (115 L). bbl

  3. any large quantity.

    a barrel of fun.

  4. any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.

  5. Ordnance. the tube of a gun.

  6. Machinery. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.

  7. a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.

  8. Horology. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.

  9. Ornithology Obsolete. a calamus or quill.

  10. the trunk of a quadruped, especially of a horse, cow, etc.

  11. Nautical. the main portion of a capstan, about which the rope winds, between the drumhead at the top and the pawl rim at the bottom.

  12. a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.

  13. any structure having the form of a barrel vault.

  14. Also called throat.  Automotive. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.

verb (used with object)

barrels, present (3rd person singular) barreled, past participle, past barrelled, past participle, past barreling, present participle barrelling present participle

  1. to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.

  2. to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.

  3. Informal. to force to go or proceed at high speed.

    He barreled his car through the dense traffic.

verb (used without object)

barrels, present (3rd person singular) barreled, past participle, past barrelled, past participle, past barreling, present participle barrelling present participle

  1. Informal. to travel or drive very fast.

    to barrel along the highway.

idioms

  1. over a barrel, in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act.

    They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.
barrel British  
/ ˈbærəl /

noun

  1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask

  2. Also called: barrelful.  the amount that a barrel can hold

  3. a unit of capacity used in brewing, equal to 36 Imperial gallons

  4. a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons

  5. a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine

  6. the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged

  7. horology the cylindrical drum in a watch or clock that is rotated by the mainspring

  8. the trunk of a four-legged animal

    the barrel of a horse

  9. the quill of a feather

  10. informal a large measure; a great deal (esp in the phrases barrel of fun, barrel of laughs )

  11. informal the hollow inner side of a wave

  12. informal powerless

  13. informal to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to put into a barrel or barrels

  2. informal (intr; foll by along, in, etc) (intr) to travel or move very fast

  3. informal to ride on the inside of a wave

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
barrel More Idioms  

  1. see both barrels; bottom of the barrel; cash on the barrelhead; like shooting fish in a barrel; lock, stock, and barrel; more fun than a barrel of monkeys; over a barrel; pork barrel; rotten apple (spoils the barrel).

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of barrel

1250–1300; Middle English barell < Anglo-French baril, Old French barril < Vulgar Latin *barrīculum, equivalent to *barrīc ( a ), perhaps derivative of Late Latin barra bar 1 + Latin -ulum -ule; compare Medieval Latin (circa 800) barriclus small cask

Explanation

A barrel is a big container used to store liquids. If you're moving a barrel, it's best to tip it on its side because its shape bulges at the center, so that it's easy to roll. Barrels hold liquid in them — anything from wine to beer to oil. A barrel can also be the tube in a gun that a bullet travels through. You might hear the expression "stare down the barrel of a gun," which means you're looking at a gun pointed right at your face. A barrel is also used as a unit of measure or to refer to a large unit of measure. When someone says they are having "barrels of fun," they're having a really great time.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Brent crude futures dropped 4.8% to just above $83 a barrel, calming fears that rising oil prices would lead the Fed to raise rates.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026

Now read: It could take years for oil prices to return to $67 a barrel.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

Lower oil prices, down 5% to $83 per barrel, make electric vehicles less appealing.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

Still Brent crude futures dropped 4.8% to just above $83 a barrel, the lowest close since the earliest days of the war.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026

A moment later the lid of the barrel was pried off, revealing a circle of blue sky that was instantly eclipsed by a man, peering in.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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