barrel

[ bar-uh l ]
/ ˈbær əl /

noun

verb (used with object), bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.

verb (used without object), bar·reled, bar·rel·ing or (especially British) bar·relled, bar·rel·ling.

Informal. to travel or drive very fast: to barrel along the highway.

Idioms for barrel

    over a barrel, Informal. in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act: They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.

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 bar1 + Latin -ulum -ule; compare Medieval Latin (circa 800) barriclus small cask

OTHER WORDS FROM barrel

half-bar·rel, noun un·bar·reled, adjective un·bar·relled, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for barrel

British Dictionary definitions for barrel

barrel
/ (ˈbærəl) /

noun

verb -rels, -relling or -relled or US -rels, -reling or -reled

Word Origin for barrel

C14: from Old French baril perhaps from barre bar 1

Idioms and Phrases with barrel

barrel

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).