1
: a round bulging vessel of greater length than breadth that is usually made of staves bound with hoops and has flat ends of equal diameter
2
a
: the amount contained in a barrel
especially
: the amount (such as 31 gallons of fermented beverage or 42 gallons of petroleum) fixed for a certain commodity used as a unit of measure
b
: a great quantity
3
: a drum or cylindrical part: such as
a
: the discharging tube of a gun
b
: the part of a fountain pen or of a pencil containing the ink or lead
c
: a cylindrical or tapering housing containing the optical components of a photographic-lens system and the iris diaphragm
d
: the fuel outlet from the carburetor on a gasoline engine
e
: the flat, cylindrical metal box that encloses the mainspring of a timepiece
4
: the trunk of a quadruped
barreled or barrelled; barreling or barrelling
: to put or pack in a barrel
: to move at a high speed or without hesitation
Synonyms
Noun
- abundance
- basketful
- boatload
- bucket
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- chunk
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- slew
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
Verb
- belt
- blast
- blaze
- blow
- bolt
- bomb [slang]
- bowl
- breeze
- bundle
- bustle
- buzz
- cannonball
- careen
- career
- chase
- course
- crack (on)
- dash
- drive
- fly
- hare
- hasten
- hie
- highball
- hotfoot (it)
- hump
- hurl
- hurry
- hurtle
- hustle
- jet
- jump
- motor
- nip
- pelt
- race
- ram
- rip
- rocket
- run
- rush
- rustle
- scoot
- scurry
- scuttle
- shoot
- speed
- step
- tear
- travel
- trot
- whirl
- whisk
- zip
- zoom
Examples of barrel in a Sentence
Noun
Oak barrels are used for aging the wine.
The price of oil is over 30 dollars a barrel.
They drank a whole barrel of beer.
the barrel of a gun
Verb
The truck went barreling down Main Street.
She came running out of her office and went barreling past us down the hall.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 27 June 2024
Also, some of the barrels used to age the whiskey were made from French oak that came from the Vosges region of France which was air dried and seasoned for two years and then toasted to Michter’s specs.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 25 June 2024
Malik Peay, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2024
In January 2024, as Earls’ lawsuit barreled toward a trial, the commission abruptly dropped its investigation.
—Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrel 
Noun
In 2022, when energy costs soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the administration also tapped tens of millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tame prices that shot past $5 per gallon.
—Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 27 June 2024
Also, some of the barrels used to age the whiskey were made from French oak that came from the Vosges region of France which was air dried and seasoned for two years and then toasted to Michter’s specs.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 25 June 2024
Verb
Models barreled through with larger-than-life Louis Vuitton trunks in chromatic color while donning matte-black suits amid the futuristic world painted by Williams.
—Malik Peay, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2024
In January 2024, as Earls’ lawsuit barreled toward a trial, the commission abruptly dropped its investigation.
—Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrel
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barrel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near barrel
Cite this Entry
“Barrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrel. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
barrel
2 of 2 verb
barreled or barrelled; barreling or barrelling
: to travel at a high speed
barreling down the highway
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