Dictionary

double-barrelled en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From double- + barrelled.. Extended senses derived humorously from the literal sense of a double-barrelled gun.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see double, barrelled. Having two barrels, as a gun.
2. (not-comparable) Twofold, having a double purpose or nature.
   • Alexander Taylor, a native of Stonehaven who in the later forties went to Edinburgh, where he enjoyed a double-barrelled reputation as a rhymester and as an astronomer. 1972, Alexander Keith, A thousand years of Aberdeen:
   • Order-maintenance crackdowns are not an alternative but rather an addition to the severe penalties that dominate criminal justice […] What we are left with today is a system of severe punishments for major offenders and severe treatments for minor offenders and ordinary citizens, especially minorities, a double-barreled approach with significant effects on large numbers of our citizenry. 2001, Bernard E. Harcourt, Illusion of Order:
   • Skilling came to Enron with a double-barrelled reputation: on the one hand he was known to be a cold man with a taste for macho showing-off (Enron employees nicknamed him 'Darth Vader'). On the other hand he was said to be a genius ... 2011, Colin Wilson, Damon Wilson, Scandal!: An Explosive Exposé of the Affairs, Corruption and Power Struggles of the Rich and Famous, Random House, →ISBN:
3. (not-comparable, of names) Having two separate parts, often adjoined by a hyphen (or sometimes a space).
   • Almost unbelievably, some authors have formed the erroneous conception that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is actually the double-barrelled surname of the dictionary’s editor. 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 488:
4. (figuratively, not-comparable) Forceful, powerful (like a double-barrelled shotgun).
   • Range Rover ran an ad campaign referring to grouse shooting with the line: “There’s only one car for the double-barrelled.” 2023 November 5, Andrew Anthony, “Monsters of the road: what should the UK do about SUVs?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • When the sheriff arrested [Lucy Hicks Anderson] one night, her double-barrelled reputation paid off—Charles Donlon, the town's leading banker, promptly bailed her out. Reason: He had scheduled a huge dinner party, which would have collapsed dismally with Lucy In gaol. 1945 November 6, “She trafficked in sin and souffle”, in Townsville Daily Bulletin, Queensland, Australia:

Forms

Relateds

double-barrelled shotgun · long-barrelled · triple-barrelled · tupara

Synonyms

hyphenated

Translations (14)

fi kaksijakoinen (having a double purpose or nature) · pa ਦੁਨਾਲ਼ੀ (having two barrels, as a gun) · hu ikercsöves (having two barrels, as a gun) · hi दुनाली (having two barrels, as a gun) · fi kaksitahoinen (having a double purpose or nature) · fi kaksiosainen (of names: having two separate parts) · fi kaksinainen (having a double purpose or nature) · hu dupla (having a double purpose or nature) · fi kaksipiippuinen (having two barrels, as a gun) · hu kételemű (of names: having two separate parts) · fi kaksipiippuinen (having a double purpose or nature) · hu dupla csövű (having two barrels, as a gun) · hu kétfunkciós (having a double purpose or nature) · hu kettős (having a double purpose or nature)