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View synonyms for barley

barley

1

[ bahr-lee ]

noun

  1. a widely distributed cereal plant belonging to the genus Hordeum, of the grass family, having awned flowers that grow in tightly bunched spikes, with three small additional spikes at each node.
  2. the grain of this plant, used as food and in making beer, ale, and whiskey.


barley

2

[ bahr-lee ]

noun

, Scot. and North England.
, plural bar·leys.
  1. a truce or quarter, especially in children's games; parley.

barley

1

/ ˈbɑːlɪ /

sentence substitute

  1. dialect.
    a cry for truce or respite from the rules of a game


barley

2

/ ˈbɑːlɪ /

noun

  1. any of various erect annual temperate grasses of the genus Hordeum , esp H. vulgare , that have short leaves and dense bristly flower spikes and are widely cultivated for grain and forage
  2. the grain of any of these grasses, used in making beer and whisky and for soups, puddings, etc See also pearl barley

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Word History and Origins

Origin of barley1

before 1000; Middle English; Old English bærlīc (adj.), equivalent to bær- (variant of bere barley; akin to Old Norse barr barley, Gothic barizeins made of barley, Serbo-Croatian brȁšno flour, Latin far emmer; all < European Indo-European *bHaer- spike, prickle, perhaps akin to beard ) + -līc -ly

Origin of barley2

1805–15; probably to be identified with Scots barley, burley, birlie local customary law (Compare birleyman arbiter, birleycourt neighborhood court), variant of birlaw, Medieval Latin birlawe, birelegia, birelag < Old Norse *býjarlagu, equivalent to býjar, genitive singular of býr town ( bower 1, byre ) + *lagu law 1; compare bylaw ( def )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of barley1

C18: probably changed from parley

Origin of barley2

Old English bærlīc (adj); related to bere barley, Old Norse barr barley, Gothic barizeins of barley, Latin farīna flour

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Example Sentences

The malted barley, yeast, and water are cooked, fermented, and distilled exactly the same.

Scottish farmers had already been making whisky in the area for centuries with their surplus barley.

When you think of what it takes to make your favorite spirit, ingredients like grapes, barley, or herbs probably come to mind.

More than half of the patrons at the bar are holding glasses full of Casa Bruja's malted barley red ale.

A single malt is made with malted barley in pot stills at a single distillery.

Little Rye was sown, but that little is very good; Barley is suffering from the stormy weather, but is quite thrifty.

It is produced during the malting process, and is not found in the unmalted barley.

And greenish among the stubble, upon a spear of blond barley, with a double row of seeds, I saw a prègo-diéu.

Ike Martin, the storekeeper, had onions already sprouted in his little garden-patch, and he had sown some barley.

And the means they employ to spirit up these creations are not dissimilar to those in use by Mr. Barley.

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Barlettabarley-bree