BARB

noun a bit for a horse.

2. barb ·vt to shave or dress the beard of.

3. barb ·noun a muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.

4. barb ·noun a hair or bristle ending in a double hook.

5. barb ·noun armor for a horse. ·same·as 2d bard, ·noun, 1.

6. barb ·vt to clip; to mow.

7. barb ·noun beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.

8. barb ·noun a blackish or dun variety of the pigeon, originally brought from barbary.

9. barb ·noun the barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from barbary into spain by the moors.

10. barb ·vt to furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, ·etc.

11. barb ·noun one of the side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane. ·see feather.

12. barb ·noun a southern name for the kingfishes of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the united states;

— also improperly called whiting.

13. barb ·noun the point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, ·etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. hence: anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.

14. barb ·noun paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. the name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen.