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
Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2024
Guests can take a deep dive into the hotel’s barrel program with the Barrel Tasting Experience , which includes one-ounce pours of four unique offerings, presented by an expert, followed by a classic cocktail prepared with your favorite.
—Jeanne O'Brien Coffey, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Justine Calma, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2024
Seconds later, the truck races back into view, barreling over Sloan, still crumpled on the ground, and fatally mowing down Carter, who had been standing on the sidewalk.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrel 
Noun
This is a 47-year-old single malt distilled in 1976, aged in bourbon barrels for 20 years and then put into American oak hogsheads for a final 27 years.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2024
Guests can take a deep dive into the hotel’s barrel program with the Barrel Tasting Experience , which includes one-ounce pours of four unique offerings, presented by an expert, followed by a classic cocktail prepared with your favorite.
—Jeanne O'Brien Coffey, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Verb
The storm is still barreling through Cuba today, posing new dangers to residents and complicating efforts to get the power grid running again.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2024
Seconds later, the truck races back into view, barreling over Sloan, still crumpled on the ground, and fatally mowing down Carter, who had been standing on the sidewalk.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 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 4 Nov. 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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