barrel

UK: /ˈbærəl/ US: /ˈbærəl/ ,(bar′əl)

Inflections of 'barrel' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

When both "l" and "ll" forms exist, spellings with a double "l" are correct, but rare, in US English, while those with a single "l" are not correct in UK English.

barrels

v 3rd person singular

barrelling

v pres p (Mainly UK)

barreling

v pres p (US)

barrelled

v past (Mainly UK)

barreled

v past (US)

barrelled

v past p (Mainly UK)

barreled

v past p (US)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bar•rel /ˈbærəl/   n., v., -reled, -rel•ing or (esp. Brit.) -relled, -rel•ling. 
n. [countable]

1. a rounded container for liquids.
2. Weights and Measures the amount that a barrel can hold:
   a barrel of crude oil.
3. Military the metal tubelike part of a gun from which the bullet comes out.

v. 

4. [~ + object] to put or pack in a barrel or barrels.
5. Informal Terms to drive or move at high speed:
   [no object] They were barreling along at 95 miles an hour.

Idioms

6. over a barrel, placed in a difficult situation.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bar•rel  (bar′əl), n., v., -reled, -rel•ing or (esp. Brit.) -relled, -rel•ling. 
n. 

1. a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides made of staves hooped together, and with flat, parallel ends.
2. Weights and Measures the quantity that such a vessel of some standard size can hold: for most liquids, 31½ 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. Military [Ordn.] the tube of a gun.
6. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] the chamber of a pump in which the piston works.
7. Time a drum turning on a shaft, as in a weight-driven clock.
8. Time [Horol.] the cylindrical case in a watch or clock within which the mainspring is coiled.
9. Birds [Ornith. Obs.] a calamus or quill.
10. Zoology the trunk of a quadruped, esp. of a horse, cow, etc.
11. Nautical, Naval Terms 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. Mechanical Engineering 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. Automotive Also called throat. a passageway in a carburetor that has the shape of a Venturi tube.
15. Idioms 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. Mechanical Engineering to finish (metal parts) by tumbling in a barrel.
18. Informal Terms to force to go or proceed at high speed:
    He barreled his car through the dense traffic.

v.i. 

19. Informal Terms to travel or drive very fast:
    to barrel along the highway.

• Vulgar Latin *barrīculum, equivalent. to *barrīc(a), perh. derivative of Late Latin barra bar¹ + Latin -ulum -ule; compare Medieval Latin (ca. 800) barriclus small cask
• Anglo-French baril, Old French barril
• Middle English barell 1250–1300

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

barrel / ˈbærəl/ noun

1. a cylindrical container usually bulging outwards in the middle and held together by metal hoops; cask
2. Also called: barrelful the amount that a barrel can hold
3. a unit of capacity used in the oil and other industries, normally equal to 42 US gallons or 35 Imperial gallons
4. a thing or part shaped like a barrel, esp a tubular part of a machine
5. the tube through which the projectile of a firearm is discharged
6. the trunk of a four-legged animal: the barrel of a horse
7. over a barrel ⇒ powerless
8. scrape the barrel ⇒ to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource

verb ( -rels, -relling, -relled) ( -rels, -reling, -reled)

1. (transitive) to put into a barrel or barrels
2. (intr; followed by along, in, etc) to travel or move very fast

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French baril perhaps from barre bar¹