Dictionary

barker en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɑː(ɹ)kɚ/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English berkere; equivalent to bark (“dog noise”) + -er.

Meanings

1. Someone or something who barks.
   • Edmund was barker on sight, like foolish stay-at-home dogs. 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 42:
   • My neighbor's dog is a constant barker that keeps me awake at night.
2. A person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby, e.g. at a carnival.
   • [… 1893, James Otis, The Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair:
   • Bob had amassed a considerable stockpile of double entendres from his days working as a barker for a strip joint.
   • Oh to live on Sugar Mountain / With the barkers and the colored balloons 1969, Neil Young, “Sugar Mountain”:
   • For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth. 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
   • 'I'll be your "barker" - the girl outside who gets the suckers in. […]' 1954, Ian Fleming, “The Everglades”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 121:
3. A shelf-talker.
4. A video game mode where the action is demonstrated to entice someone to play the game.
   • The barker looks action-packed, but actually playing the game is rather dull.
5. (dated, slang) A pistol.
   • Parkin, the Oxford Street gunmaker, sent me a brace of barkers in silver mountings, with my initials engraved—good for trade, I imagine. 1969, George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman, page 45:
   • Barney, opening a cupboard, brought forth several articles, which he hastily crammed into the pockets. “Barkers for me, Barney," said Toby Crackit. “Here they are,” replied Barney, producing a pair of pistols. 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
6. The spotted redshank.

Forms

Deriveds

barker's egg · barker channel

Hyponyms

doorsman

Synonyms

tout · latrant · barking iron · spruiker

Translations (13)

el κράχτης (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · it imbonitore (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · it buttadentro (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · oc abaiaire (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · tr çığırtkan (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · cs nadháněč (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · cs vyvolávač (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · de Anpreiser (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · de Marktschreier (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · ja 客引き (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · la lātrātor (one who barks) · fr aboyeur (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby) · de Rekommandeur (person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby)

barker en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɑː(ɹ)kɚ/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English barker; equivalent to bark (“surface of tree”) + -er.

Meanings

1. (historical) A person who removes needed or valuable tree bark, as on a cinnamon or cinchona plantation.
   • The profession of barker has been made largely obsolete by the realization that in most cases saplings can be cultivated far more profitably.
2. (obsolete) A tanner.
   • The profession of barker has been made largely obsolete by the introduction of more effective tanning agents, but it lives on as a surname.
3. A machine used to remove unneeded bark from wood.
   • Run these logs through the barker so we can use them as fence posts.

Forms

Translations (4)

es cascarillero (a person who strips needed or valuable bark) · cs odkorňovač (a tool or machine for bark removal) · cs loupač kůry (a tool or machine for bark removal) · es cascador (a person who strips needed or valuable bark)