barrel

CEFRB2

/ˈbæɹ(ə)l/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A large round container for storing liquids or other goods.

  2. 02

    verb

    To move very fast and without control.

Examples

  • Middle Eastern oil prices jumped by five dollars per barrel.

  • The GOP accused the Democrats of pork barrel politics.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • [ˈbæɹəɫ]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.

  2. To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

  3. A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

More examples

In context

  • the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.

  • a cracker barrel

  • Near-synonym: cask

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

The winemaker aged the red wine in a large oak blank for two full years.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (*bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old Hig...