barb

1
[ bahrb ]
See synonyms for: barbbarbed on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a point or pointed part projecting backward from a main point, as of a fishhook or arrowhead.

  2. an obviously or openly unpleasant or cutting remark.

  1. Botany, Zoology. a hooked or sharp bristle.

  2. Ornithology. one of the processes attached to the rachis of a feather.

  3. one of a breed of domestic pigeons, similar to the carriers or homers, having a short, broad bill.

  4. any of numerous, small, Old World cyprinid fishes of the genera Barbus and Puntius, often kept in aquariums.

  5. Usually barbs. Veterinary Pathology. a small protuberance under the tongue in horses and cattle, especially when inflamed and swollen.

  6. Also barbe. a linen covering for the throat and breast, formerly worn by women mourners and now only by some nuns.

  7. Obsolete. a beard.

verb (used with object)
  1. to furnish with a barb or barbs.

Origin of barb

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English barbe “beard, pleated cloth, barb (of an arrow),” from Middle French, Old French barbe, from Latin barba beard

Other words for barb

Other definitions for barb (2 of 3)

barb2
[ bahrb ]

noun
  1. one of a breed of horses raised originally in Barbary.

Origin of barb

2
First recorded in 1600–10; from French barbe, shortened form of Italian barbero “Barbary steed,” equivalent to Barber(ia) “Barbary” + -o masculine noun suffix

Other definitions for barb (3 of 3)

barb3
[ bahrb ]

nounSlang.

Origin of barb

3
First recorded in 1955–60; by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use barb in a sentence

  • In this paper I string these barbs to the bow of motherhood, and trust they may pierce to the joints of the harness.

    The Quiver 3/1900 | Anonymous
  • The hunter then threw his spear, made with three barbs of different lengths, and caught the duck on the sharp central prong.

    Historic Adventures | Rupert S. Holland
  • Then he pulled out two cleverly-carved bone barbs, which he fitted on the forks and fastened by sinews to the staff.

    Northwest! | Harold Bindloss
  • There was a sort of socket in the upper end of it, and the points of the two pieces of horn were formed into barbs.

    Cruisings in the Cascades | George O. Shields
  • A horn spear, with barbs, and a fine shell sinker, shows that they lived on fish.

British Dictionary definitions for barb (1 of 4)

barb1

/ (bɑːb) /


noun
  1. a subsidiary point facing in the opposite direction to the main point of a fish-hook, harpoon, arrow, etc, intended to make extraction difficult

  2. any of various pointed parts, as on barbed wire

  1. a cutting remark; gibe

  2. any of the numerous hairlike filaments that form the vane of a feather

  3. a beardlike growth in certain animals

  4. a hooked hair or projection on certain fruits

  5. any small cyprinid fish of the genus Barbus (or Puntius) and related genera, such as B. conchonius (rosy barb)

  6. (usually plural) any of the small fleshy protuberances beneath the tongue in horses and cattle

  7. a white linen cloth forming part of a headdress extending from the chin to the upper chest, originally worn by women in the Middle Ages, now worn by nuns of some orders

  8. obsolete a beard

verb
  1. (tr) to provide with a barb or barbs

Origin of barb

1
C14: from Old French barbe beard, point, from Latin barba beard

Derived forms of barb

  • barbed, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for barb (2 of 4)

barb2

/ (bɑːb) /


noun
  1. a breed of horse of North African origin, similar to the Arab but less spirited

Origin of barb

2
C17: from French barbe, from Italian barbero a Barbary (horse)

British Dictionary definitions for barb (3 of 4)

barb3

/ (bɑːb) /


noun
  1. Australian a black kelpie: See kelpie 1

Origin of barb

3
C19: named after one that was named Barb after a winning racehorse

British Dictionary definitions for BARB (4 of 4)

BARB

/ (bɑːb) /


n acronym for(in Britain)
  1. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for barb

barb

[ bärb ]


  1. A sharp point projecting backward, as on the stinger of a bee.

  2. One of the hairlike branches on the shaft of a feather.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.