Search results for 'barrel':

barrel¹ noun 1 a large round container with a flat top and bottom and curving out in the middle, usually made of planks of wood held together with metal bands. 2 a barrelful. 3 a measure of capacity, especially of industrial oil. 4 the long hollow tube-shaped part of a gun or pen, etc. have someone over a barrel to be in a position to get whatever one wants from them; to have them in one's power • They've got me over a barrel, - if I don't co-operate I'll lose my job
ETYMOLOGY: 19c: US expression probably alluding to the helpless position of someone laid over a barrel to clear their lungs after being rescued from drowning. scrape the bottom of the barrel see under scrape.
ETYMOLOGY: 14c: from French baril.

barrel² verb (barrelled, barrelling; US barreled, barreling) 1 to put something in barrels. 2 intrans, colloq (usually barrel along or past, etc) to move at great speed • huge lorries barrelling past us.
ETYMOLOGY: 15c.