barge

[ bahrj ]
See synonyms for barge on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a capacious, flat-bottomed vessel, usually intended to be pushed or towed, for transporting freight or passengers; lighter.

  2. a vessel of state used in pageants: elegantly decorated barges on the Grand Canal in Venice.

  1. Navy. a boat reserved for a flag officer.

  2. a boat that is heavier and wider than a shell, often used in racing as a training boat.

  3. New England (chiefly Older Use). a large, horse-drawn coach or, sometimes, a bus.

verb (used without object),barged, barg·ing.
  1. to move clumsily; bump into things; collide: to barge through a crowd.

  2. to move in the slow, heavy manner of a barge.

verb (used with object),barged, barg·ing.
  1. to carry or transport by barge: Coal and ore had been barged down the Ohio to the Mississippi.

Verb Phrases
  1. barge in, to intrude, especially rudely: I hated to barge in without an invitation.

  2. barge into,

    • Also barge in on. to force oneself upon, especially rudely; interfere in: to barge into a conversation.

    • to bump into; collide with: He started to run away and barged into a passer-by.

Origin of barge

1
1250–1300; Middle English <Middle French, perhaps <Latin *bārica;see bark3

Words that may be confused with barge

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

British Dictionary definitions for barge

barge

/ (bɑːdʒ) /


noun
  1. a vessel, usually flat-bottomed and with or without its own power, used for transporting freight, esp on canals

  2. a vessel, often decorated, used in pageants, for state occasions, etc

  1. navy a boat allocated to a flag officer, used esp for ceremonial occasions and often carried on board his flagship

  2. jocular, derogatory any vessel, esp an old or clumsy one

  3. Australian informal a heavy or cumbersome surfboard

verb
  1. (intr foll by into) informal to bump (into)

  2. (tr) informal to push (someone or one's way) violently

  1. (intr; foll by into or in) informal to interrupt rudely or clumsily: to barge into a conversation

  2. (tr) sailing to bear down on (another boat or boats) at the start of a race

  3. (tr) to transport by barge

  4. (intr) informal to move slowly or clumsily

Origin of barge

1
C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin barga, probably from Late Latin barca a small boat; see barque

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