Barrel — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

noun verb /ˈber-əl/ bar·rel

Meaning & Definition of Barrel

Barrel (noun)

  1. a round bulging vessel of greater length than breadth that is usually made of staves bound with hoops and has flat ends of equal diameter
  2. the amount contained in a barrel; especially, the amount (such as 31 gallons of fermented beverage or 42 gallons of petroleum) fixed for a certain commodity used as a unit of measure
  3. a great quantity

Barrel (verb)

  1. to put or pack in a barrel
  2. to move at a high speed or without hesitation

Barrel (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. a considerable amount

    "a visit to an amusement park should be a barrel of laughs"

    similar: abundance, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (chiefly British), loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, sight, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yard, all kinds (of), quite a bit
    related: epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
    opposite: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
    near: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section, absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

  2. a metal container in the shape of a cylinder

    "a trash barrel"

    similar: can, canister, drum, tin
    related: bucket, pail, cannikin, tin can

  3. an enclosed wooden vessel for holding beverages

    "barrels of fine wine aging in the winery's cellar"

    similar: butt, cask, firkin, hogshead, keg, kilderkin, pipe, puncheon, rundlet, tun
    related: scuttlebutt, cistern, tub, vat, can, drum

Barrel (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to proceed or move quickly

    "faced with a firm deadline, we barreled through the project at a furious pace"

    similar: belt, blast, blaze, blow, bolt, bomb (slang), bowl, breeze, bundle, bustle, buzz, cannonball, careen, career, chase, course, crack (on), dash, drive, fly, hare, hasten, hie, highball, hotfoot (it), hump, hurl, hurry, hurtle, hustle, jet, jump, motor, nip, pelt, race, ram, rip, rocket, run, rush, rustle, scoot, scurry, scuttle, shoot, speed, step, tear, travel, trot, whirl, whisk, zip, zoom, beat it, get a move on, make tracks, shake a leg, step on it
    related: beetle, dart, flit, scamper, scud, scuffle, stampede, streak, whiz, gallop, jog, sprint, accelerate, quicken, step out, catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtake, arrow, beeline
    opposite: crawl, creep, poke
    near: dally, dawdle, dillydally, drag, hang (around or out), lag, linger, loiter, poke, tarry, amble, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stroll, decelerate, slow (down or up)

Related Entry: Cracker-barrel (adjective)

Cracker-barrel is a different word from Barrel. The synonyms below are for cracker-barrel, not for barrel.

  1. having or showing an unpretentious informality

    "his cracker-barrel campaign speeches strike a chord with voters"

    similar: down-home, folksy, homespun
    related: modest, unassuming, unpretentious, colloquial, conversational, informal, casual, familiar, fireside, intimate
    near: affected, grandiose, highfalutin, ostentatious, pompous, pretentious

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Barrel

The most common words with a similar meaning to Barrel:

Chiefly British: lashings
Slang: bomb
abundance, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Barrel

Words with the opposite meaning of Barrel:

ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste

Related Words for Barrel

epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host

Near Antonyms of Barrel

atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section

Word Forms of Barrel

Inflections: barrels, barreled, barrelled, barreling, barrelling

Derived words: barreled (adjective)

Origin & Etymology of Barrel

Middle English barayl, barel, borrowed from Anglo-French barel, baril (continental Old French barril), going back to Gallo-Romance *barrīculus, probably diminutive of *barrīca "cask, barrel" barricade:2

First known use: 14th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Barrel

Words & Phrases Containing Barrel

barrel cactus, barrel-chested, barrel cuff, barrel organ, barrel racing, barrel roll, barrel vault, cracker-barrel

Frequently Asked Questions about Barrel

What does "Barrel" mean?

"Barrel" means a round bulging vessel of greater length than breadth that is usually made of staves bound with hoops and has flat ends of equal diameter. As an a noun and a verb, it is defined as: a round bulging vessel of greater length than breadth that is usually made of staves bound with hoops and has flat ends of equal diameter. It has 4 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Barrel"?

Other words for "Barrel" include abundance, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel and carload. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Barrel" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Barrel"?

There are 204 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Barrel". Common alternatives include abundance, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk and deal.

What is the opposite of "Barrel"?

Antonyms of "Barrel" include ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful and hint. Near antonyms include atom, crumb, dot and fleck.

How do you use "Barrel" in a sentence?

Examples of "Barrel" in a sentence: "a visit to an amusement park should be a barrel of laughs"; "a trash barrel"; "barrels of fine wine aging in the winery's cellar".

Is "Barrel" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Barrel" can be used as a noun and a verb, depending on the context.

Is "Barrel" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As a C1-level word, "Barrel" is typical of Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE), IELTS band 7.0–8.0, TOEFL iBT 95–113, PTE Academic 76–84, TOEIC Listening & Reading 945+. Advanced words like this are also useful for the GRE, SAT, GMAT, and LSAT.

How do you pronounce "Barrel"?

"Barrel" is pronounced /ˈber-əl/ and divided into syllables as bar·rel.