barrel
/ˈbæɹəl/ noun B1- 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. · Near-synonym: cask· a cracker barrel
- Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun holds. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)
- The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.
- A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case · the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.
- A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
- A venturi (in carburetion).
- A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.
- The hollow basal part of a feather.
Plural barrels
From the library
Take her six bottles of different wine—Cyprus, sherry, and Malaga, and a barrel of Ostend oysters; get them at Borel’s, and be sure you say they are for me.”
He looked around; he was in a court surrounded by high walls; he heard the measured tread of sentinels, and as they passed before the light he saw the barrels of their muskets shine.
Lying across his chest was a curious weapon, a shotgun with the barrel sawed off a foot in front of the triggers.
They were buckshot cartridges, and, as Sergeant Wilson pointed out, the triggers were wired together so that, if you pulled on the hinder one, both barrels were discharged.
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