Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: WEAPONS

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: baril

barrel

1 noun
     
barrel
bar‧rel1 S3 [countable]
1DT a large curved container with a flat top and bottom, made of wood or metal, and used for storing beer, wine etc:
The wine is aged in oak barrels.
barrel of
barrels of beer
2 a unit of measurement for oil, equal to 159 litres
barrel of
two million barrels of oil
barrel
3PMW the part of a gun that the bullets are fired through
4

have somebody over a barrel

to put someone in a situation in which they are forced to accept or do what you want:
The manager had us over a barrel - either we work on a Saturday or we lose our jobs.
5

be a barrel of laughs

[often in negatives] to be very enjoyable:
Life is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.
➔ pork barrel

; ➔ scrape (the bottom of) the barrel

at scrape1 (5)

; ➔ lock, stock, and barrel

at lock2 (3)
Definition of barrel from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic WEAPONS

Explore WEAPONS Topic

arrow arsenal automatic barrel battery blank blaze bolt bomb boom bore bow bullet butt cannon cartridge chamber charge clip cock conventional device dirk discharge duel(n) duel(v) elevation gauge guidance gun haft hammer heavy lance live long-range magazine magnum missile nuclear nuke(v) nuke(n) pepper pike pound prime primer range report rifle rocket round shaft shell(n) shell(v) shield shooter shot sight slash sniper tank trigger weapon

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