barbed

[ bahrbd ]

/ bɑrbd /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR barbed ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having barbs.

calculated to wound; cutting: a professor noted for his barbed criticisms.

Origin of barbed

First recorded in 1520–30; barb¹ + -ed³

Words nearby barbed

barbate, barbe, barbecue, barbecue sauce, barbecue stopper, barbed, barbed tributary, barbed wire, barbed-wire grass, barbel, barbell

Definition for barbed (2 of 2)

barb ¹

[ bahrb ]

/ bɑrb /

noun

a point or pointed part projecting backward from a main point, as of a fishhook or arrowhead.

an obviously or openly unpleasant or carping remark.

Botany, Zoology. a hooked or sharp bristle.

Ornithology. one of the processes attached to the rachis of a feather.

one of a breed of domestic pigeons, similar to the carriers or homers, having a short, broad bill.

any of numerous, small, Old World cyprinid fishes of the genera Barbus and Puntius, often kept in aquariums.

Usually barbs. Veterinary Pathology. a small protuberance under the tongue in horses and cattle, especially when inflamed and swollen.

Also barbe. a linen covering for the throat and breast, formerly worn by women mourners and now only by some nuns.

Obsolete. a beard.

verb (used with object)

to furnish with a barb or barbs.

Origin of barb

1300–50; Middle English barbe < Middle French ≪ Latin barba beard or beardlike projection

SYNONYMS FOR barb

1 spur, spike, prong, barbule; snag, prickle, spicule.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR barb ON THESAURUS.COM

Example sentences from the Web for barbed

So perhaps the barbed wire and the machinations of the plot did duty for other obstacles that stood between myself and freedom.

The Stacks: How The Berlin Wall Inspired John le Carré’s First Masterpiece |John le Carré |November 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Click here to see a photo of Galbraith and Fairchild posing in front of barbed wire that marked off mines in the zone.

Morgan Fairchild: Badass Foreign Policy Wonk |Asawin Suebsaeng |October 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Two parallel fences tipped with barbed wire formed a narrow corridor into the gymnasium.

The GOP’s Last Identity Crisis Remade U.S. Politics |Michael Wolraich |July 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Even after she left its barbed bosom, it did its best to further excommunicate and sideline her.

If Kate Middleton’s Butt Could Speak: It’s Time Royal Princesses Led Visible, Voluble Public Lives |Tim Teeman |June 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

These days, the vast majority of coalition forces work within the walls, guard towers, and barbed wire of their bases.

How I’ll End the War: Making Collage Art With Afghan Students |Nick Willard |May 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
By the discharge of the mortar a barbed shot was to be flung on to the wreck, with a line attached to the shot.

Cornish Characters |S. Baring-Gould
For the story of this village of Voyennes is just that of all the villages on the enemy's side of the barbed wire.

From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917 |Philip Gibbs
The boy by some instinct dodged swiftly, and the barbed dart whistled by his ear and sank into the woodwork of the deck-house.

The Bungalow Boys Along the Yukon |Dexter J. Forrester
By-spines (one hundred and fifty to two hundred) very thin, barbed and zigzag, as long as the radius.

Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia) |Ernst Haeckel
A wilderness of tangled underbrush, like barbed wire entanglements, baffled the hardiest adventurer.

Tom Slade's Double Dare |Percy Keese Fitzhugh

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (1 of 4)

barb ¹

/ (bɑːb) /

noun

a subsidiary point facing in the opposite direction to the main point of a fish-hook, harpoon, arrow, etc, intended to make extraction difficult

any of various pointed parts, as on barbed wire

a cutting remark; gibe

any of the numerous hairlike filaments that form the vane of a feather

a beardlike growth in certain animals

a hooked hair or projection on certain fruits

any small cyprinid fish of the genus Barbus (or Puntius) and related genera, such as B. conchonius (rosy barb)

(usually plural) any of the small fleshy protuberances beneath the tongue in horses and cattle

a white linen cloth forming part of a headdress extending from the chin to the upper chest, originally worn by women in the Middle Ages, now worn by nuns of some orders

obsolete a beard

verb

(tr) to provide with a barb or barbs

Derived forms of barb

barbed, adjective

Word Origin for barb

C14: from Old French barbe beard, point, from Latin barba beard

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (2 of 4)

barb ²

/ (bɑːb) /

noun

a breed of horse of North African origin, similar to the Arab but less spirited

Word Origin for barb

C17: from French barbe, from Italian barbero a Barbary (horse)

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (3 of 4)

barb ³

/ (bɑːb) /

noun

Australian a black kelpie See kelpie 1

Word Origin for barb

C19: named after one that was named Barb after a winning racehorse

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (4 of 4)

BARB

/ (bɑːb) /

n acronym for (in Britain)

Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

Scientific definitions for barbed

barb

[ bärb ]

A sharp point projecting backward, as on the stinger of a bee.

One of the hairlike branches on the shaft of a feather.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

barbed

adjective

Origin of barbed

Words nearby barbed

Definition for barbed (2 of 2)

noun

verb (used with object)

Origin of barb

SYNONYMS FOR barb

Example sentences from the Web for barbed

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (1 of 4)

noun

verb

Derived forms of barb

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (2 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (3 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (4 of 4)

n acronym for (in Britain)

Scientific definitions for barbed

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

barbed

adjective

Origin of barbed

Words nearby barbed

Definition for barbed (2 of 2)

noun

verb (used with object)

Origin of barb

SYNONYMS FOR barb

Words related to barbed

Example sentences from the Web for barbed

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (1 of 4)

noun

verb

Derived forms of barb

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (2 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (3 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for barb

British Dictionary definitions for barbed (4 of 4)

n acronym for (in Britain)

Scientific definitions for barbed