/bar"euhl/ , n. , v. , barreled, barreling or ( esp. Brit. ) barrelled, barrelling .
n.
1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.
2. the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31 1 / 2 U.S. gallons (119 L); for petroleum, 42 U.S. gallons (159 L); for dry materials, 105 U.S. dry quarts (115 L). Abbr.: bbl
3. any large quantity: a barrel of fun.
4. any container, case, or part similar to a wooden barrel in form.
5. Ordn. the tube of a gun.
6. Mach. the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.
7. a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.
8. Horol. the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.
9. Ornith. Obs. a calamus or quill.
10. the trunk of a quadruped, esp. of a horse, cow, etc.
11. Naut. the main portion of a capstan, about which the rope winds, between the drumhead at the top and the pawl rim at the bottom.
12. a rotating horizontal cylinder in which manufactured objects are coated or polished by tumbling in a suitable substance.
13. any structure having the form of a barrel vault.
14. Also called throat . Auto. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.
15. over a barrel , Informal. in a helpless, weak, or awkward position; unable to act: They really had us over a barrel when they foreclosed the mortgage.
v.t.
16. to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.
17. to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.
18. Informal. to force to go or proceed at high speed: He barreled his car through the dense traffic.
v.i.
19. Informal. to travel or drive very fast: to barrel along the highway.
[ 1250-1300; ME barell baril, OF barril barriculum, equiv. to * barric ( a ), perh. deriv. of LL barra BAR 1 + L -ulum -ULE; cf. ML (ca. 800) barriclus small cask ]