barb en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Etymology
PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.
Meanings
-
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.
Having two barbs or points.
1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus:
-
(figuratively) A hurtful or disparaging remark.
to trade barbs
And she was the only girl in class who did not, sometime through the lesson, get a barb of sarcasm from Miss Brownell, though she made as many mistakes as the rest of them.
1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:His barbs about fake accounts have weakened trust in Twitter, just as the company prepares to moderate heated political discussions about an upcoming election in Brazil and the midterm elections this fall in the United States, misinformation experts said.
2022 July 11, Kate Conger, Mike Isaac, “How Elon Musk Damaged Twitter and Left It Worse Off”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:“Maybe I just wanted to come and see for myself if you were real. Or if you were a figment of my imagination.” The barb hurt, but she didn't blame him.
2018, Elle Wright, Wherever You Are (The Jacksons of Ann Arbor), HarperCollins, →ISBN:
- A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.
-
A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it. ▸ A barbel on a fish's face.
The barbel is so called […]by reason of his barbs, or wattles at his mouth.
1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN:
- One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
- Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
- (US) The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
- A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.
- (obsolete) A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.
- 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.
-
(obsolete) A bit for a horse.
His loftie steed with golden sell And goodly gorgeous barbes.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| barbs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
unbarb · red-line torpedo barb · barbthroat · giant barb · purplehead barb · rosy barb · soldier river barb · barbwire · bandula barb · barbate · burnt-tailed barb · Denison's barb · spanner barb · tiger barb · barbtail · hose barb · silver barb · barbless · t-barb · barbet · Denison barb · barblet · Java barb · black ruby barb · barbel · debarb · interbarb
Hypernyms
creature · animal · organism · fish · vertebrate · cyprinid
Relateds
Synonyms
southern kingcroaker · barbel · barbel · king whiting · Carolina whiting · barble · southern kingfish
Translations (74)
ca barba (one of the side branches of a feather) · nl weerhaak (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · to foto (of stingrays) (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi nälväisy (hurtful remark) · fi väkänen (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · sh bodlja (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi sivallus (hurtful remark) · hu tüske (hurtful remark) · hu fityula (muffler worn by nuns and mourners) · es pincho (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · hu bajusz (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · es barba (one of the side branches of a feather) · cy crafiad (hurtful remark) · sv skäggkarp (fish of the cyprinid family) · es pulla (hurtful remark) · ru боро́дка (one of the side branches of a feather) · hu tollrost (one of the side branches of a feather) · ru шип (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · mi tīkai (hurtful remark) · nrf barbet (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · mi keka (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · es púa (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · es puya (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · hu apácafátyol (muffler worn by nuns and mourners) · cy barfan (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · ota طاماق (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · pt barba (one of the side branches of a feather) · pl promień (one of the side branches of a feather) · gl xota (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · bg контра (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi piikki (hurtful remark) · cy saethflew (one of the side branches of a feather) · mi kātara (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · ru зубе́ц (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi väkänen (one of the side branches of a feather) · mi tara kāniwha (of stingrays) (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi nystyrä (little projections of the mucous membrane) · bg зъбец (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · de Widerhaken (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fr ardillon (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · ca llengüeta (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · vi ngạnh (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · no mothake (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · pt farpa (hurtful remark) · sv hulling (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi höytysäde (one of the side branches of a feather) · grc ἀγκυλίς (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · pt betara (fish of the cyprinid family) · de Federast (one of the side branches of a feather) · pt farpa (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · hu vélum (muffler worn by nuns and mourners) · es lengüeta (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi kauluri (muffler worn by nuns and mourners) · cy brath (hurtful remark) · tl tawes (fish of the cyprinid family) · gl barba (one of the side branches of a feather) · bg осил (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · vi cá mè (fish of the cyprinid family) · pt papa-terra (fish of the cyprinid family) · sv barb (fish of the cyprinid family) · fi barbi (fish of the cyprinid family) · hu szálka (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · bg шип (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · sh žaoka (hurtful remark) · hu csípős megjegyzés (hurtful remark) · fr barbe (one of the side branches of a feather) · ru колю́чка (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · mi hoto (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · hu horgas/kampós vég (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · hu sértés (hurtful remark) · sm foto (of stingrays) (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · fi väkänen (botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook) · cy adfach (point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc) · ml പരൽ (fish of the cyprinid family)