Forms: 4 barayl, 4–5 barele, 4–6 -ell(e, 4–7 -el, 5 barylle, 5–6 barrelle, 6 beryll, 6–7 barrell, 7– barrel. [a. F. baril (12th c. in Littré) = Pr., Pg., Sp. barril, It. barile, med.L. barile, barillus, baurilis (9th c.); cf. also barrale ‘a cask, a measure of liquids’ Du Cange: of unknown origin; Diez thinks possibly a deriv. of barra, BAR sb.1 The Celtic words (Welsh baril, Gael. baraill, Ir. bairile, Manx barrel) sometimes cited as the source, are all from English.]
I. A cask.
1. A cylindrical wooden vessel, generally bulging in the middle and of greater length than breadth, formed of curved staves bound together by hoops, and having flat ends or heads; a cask.
c. 1305. Judas, 23, in E. E. P. (1862), 107. He seȝe a barayl … Þer inne hi dude þis liber child: and amidde þe see hit caste.
1485. Caxton, Chas. Gt., 60. Two barylles … ful of bawme.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., V. iv. 57. Place barrelles of pitch vpon the fatall stake.
1604. T. Wright, Passions, V. 226. Diogenes … satte in his philosophical barrell.
1724. Swift, Drapier’s Lett., Wks. 1841, II. 2. This Wood … sends over a great many barrels of those halfpence to Cork.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 401. A barrel of Colchester oysters, his favourite dainties.
b. With various substantives defining its specific use, as beer-, brandy-, fire-, herring-, sugar-, tar-, thunder-, treacle-barrel.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Fire Barrels are casks of divers capacities, filled with bombs, grenados, etc. … These are sometimes also called thundering barrels.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xlviii. If they burn the Custom-house … we’ll lunt like a tar-barrel a’ thegither. Ibid. (1818), Rob Roy, xxvii. He wadna, for a’ the herring-barrels in Glasgow.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. ii. I. 9. Their pasteboard coulisses, thunder-barrels, their kettles, fiddles. Ibid., III. i. 111. 146. Groceries enough: sugar-barrels rolled forth into the street.
1841. Marryat, Poacher, xxiii. The beer barrel being empty.
2. Used as a measure of capacity both for liquids and dry goods, varying with the commodity.
1379. MS. Records Grocers’ Comp., 28 a. Reseyns corences i barell.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xvi. 6. An hundrid barelis of oyle.
1502. Arnold, Chron. (1811), 246. The barell of soep, xxx galones. The barell of aell, xxxii galones. The barell of beer, xxxvi galones.
1672. Petty, Pol. Anat. (1691), 21. Corn was then at 50s. per Barrel.
1712. Act 10 Anne in Lond. Gaz., No. 5012/1. A Barrel of Soap is to contain 256 pound.
1749. Reynardson, in Phil. Trans., XLVI. 57. 36 Gallons … were to be reckoned as a Barrel of Beer, and 32 such Gallons a Barrel of Ale.
1862. F. Griffiths, Artill. Man., 92. Whole Barrels [of gunpowder] contain 100 lb.
3. By metonymy: The contents of a barrel; intoxicating liquor. Cf. ‘the bottle.’
c. 1300. K. Alis., 28. For they no haveth no joye … Bote in the gutte, and the barell.
1798. W. Hutton, Fam. Hutton, 104. When in liquor he was good-natured. His children knew his weak side, and omitted to ask a favour till the barrel worked.
b. (in U.S. political slang): Money for use in a political campaign, esp. for corrupt purposes.
1884. Boston (Mass.) Herald, 18 Sept. There is a plenty of evidence that the head of Mr. Lodge’s barrel has already been knocked in.
1884. Savannah News, Aug. It would be much better for General Butler if he would turn one of his barrels over to the Democratic campaign committee.
† 4. abst. Brand, quality, sort. See HERRING.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 165 b. Twoo feloes beeyng lyke flagicious, and neither barell better hearyng, accused either other.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse, 32. Therefore of both barrelles, I judge Cookes and Painters the better hearing.
1659. Gauden, Tears Ch., 245 (D.). There meanest comrades, which are of the same bran and barrell with themselves.
1789. H. Walpole, Corr. (1820), IV. 490 (D.). A committee of those Amazons stopped the Duke of Orleans, who, to use their style, I believe is not a barrel the better herring.
II. Things cylindrical or shaped like a barrel.
5. A revolving cylinder or drum, round which a chain or rope is wound, in various machines and appliances; e.g., that of a capstan, jack, wheel, windlass. Hence b. the cylindrical box, containing the main-spring of a watch, round which the chain is wound; c. the revolving cylinder of a musical box, barrel-organ, etc., in which are fixed the pins that strike the keys.
c. 1500. Cocke Lorelles B., 12. Some pulde at the beryll … Some howysed the mayne sayle.
1611. Cotgr., The barrell of a windlesse, Moulinet.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Barrel of a jack is the cylindrical part whereon the line is wound.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Drosse … the tiller-rope … wound about the barrel of a ship’s wheel.
c. 1850. Rudim. Nav. (Weale), 94. Barrel, the main piece of a capstan or steering-wheel.
b. 1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Barrel of a clock is a cylindrical part, about which the string is wound.
1884. F. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 31. [A] Barrel hook … [is] a pin in the barrel to which the mainspring is attached; Barrel Hollow … [is] the sink cut in the top plate of a watch to give freedom to the barrel; Barrel Cover … [is] a lid that snaps into a rebate in the barrel.
c. 1659. Leak, Water-works, 32. Make the Musical Barrel to turn … and the Pins that are put upon the said Barrel, shall touch the keys.
1876. Emerson, Ess., Ser. II. ii. 98. The revolving barrel of the music-box.
6. A (usually hollow) cylinder forming part of various objects; esp. b. one forming the trunk or body, e.g., of a pump, engine-boiler, bell, feather.
1727. Bradley, Fam. Dict., Curry-Comb … consists of these Parts, 1. The Barrel or Back of the Comb.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., ix. 173. The barrel (fusée), which is the hilt itself, adapted to be grasped by the hand.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Barrel, a piece of small pipe inserted in the end of a cartridge to carry the squib to the powder.
b. 1659. Leak, Water-works, 17. If the Water be not high enough between the top of the Barrel and the Bucket.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat. & Phys., I. 350/1. All feathers are composed of a quill or barrel.
1872. Ellacombe, Bells of Ch., i. 4. The various parts of a bell may be described as the body or barrel; [etc.].
1882. Law Rep., Appeal IX. 429. The trunk or barrel of the tree.
1884. Leis. Ho., Sept., 533/2. Three lengths of cylinder, firmly riveted together, form what is called the barrel of the boiler [of a locomotive engine].
7. The metal tube of a gun, through which the bullet or shot is discharged. Hence in single-barrel, double-barrel, etc., of the whole weapon.
1644. Digby, Nat. Bodies, xi. § 12. 99 (J.). Take the barrell of a long gunne perfectly bored.
1705. Lond. Gaz., No. 4140/3. We also took 10 Pieces of Cannon, 8 whereof were treble Barrels.
1858. W. Ellis, Vis. Madagascar, iv. 96. The long tin barrel of a painted gun.
8. The belly and loins of a horse, ox, etc.
1703. Lond. Gaz., No. 3948/4. A dun Gelding … with a round Barrel.
1855. Singleton, Virgil, I. 151. Lofty is his neck, And elegant his head, his barrel short.
1880. Bret Harte, Jeff. Briggs, ii. His legs clasping the barrel of his horse.
9. Phys. The cavity of the ear situated within the membrane of the tympanum.
1706. in Phillips.
10. Comb. a. objective, as barrel-forger, -maker; b. attrib. (simply), as barrel-barricade, -board, -form, -frame, -head; (= packed in barrels), as barrel-butter, -figs, -soap; c. similative, as barrel-belly, -churn, -shaped. See also 5 c.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., V. v. I. 225. Cram the earth in *barrel-barricades.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., Pref. The ydell and *barrell bealies of monkes.
1565. Act 8 Eliz., ix. § 2. Coopers might have bought a Thousand of *Barrel-boards for twelve Shillings.
1620. Venner, Via Recta, vii. 116. Dry or *barrell Figs.
1720. Lond. Gaz., No. 5873/4. William Thomas, late of White-Chappel, *Barrel Forger.
1874. Parker, Ill. Goth. Archit., I. iii. 80. The earliest Norman Vaults are … of the *barrel form.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxix. 386. A magnificent hut of *barrel-frames.
1883. Glasg. Weekly Her., 1 Sept., 4/2. Herring fishery … finds profitable labour for … *barrelmakers.
1869. Nicholson, Zool. (1880), xxiv. 241. A free-swimming, *barrel-shaped ciliated body.
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4674/7. English *Barrel Soap for 48s. a Barrel.
11. Special combinations: barrel-amalgamation (see quot.); barrel-bellied, -stomached a., having a well-rounded belly; barrel-bird, dial. name of the Long-tailed Tit; barrel-bulk, a measure used in estimating capacity (e.g., of a vessel for freight) equal to five cubic feet; barrel-campaign (in U.S.), a political contest in which bribery is lavishly employed; barrel-drain, a cylindrical brick drain; barrel-fever, disease produced by immoderate drinking; barrelful, as much as a barrel will hold; barrel-head, (either) flat end of a barrel; barrel-like a., resembling a barrel; barrel-pen, one with a split cylindrical shank, which can be fitted on a wooden holder; barrel-sewer (cf. barrel-drain); barrel-vault, one with a simple semi-cylindrical roof, whence barrel-vaulted; barrel-work (see quot.) See also BARREL-ORGAN.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., *Barrel-amalgamation, the amalgamation of silver ores by revolution in wooden barrels with quicksilver, etc.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 126. The Colt, that for a Stallion is design’d … Sharp-headed, *Barrel-belly’d.
1856. J. Grant, Bl. Dragoon, xli. His *barrel-bellied charger.
1865. Cornh. Mag., July, 36. The rustic … call[s] the long-tailed tit … the *‘barrel-bird,’ from its making a long moss and lichen-woven nest.
1884. Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., 1 Nov., 1. We are accustomed to *‘barrel’ campaigns here. Nobody supposes this district to be Democratic, but the Democrats depend upon carrying it with money.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build. Price-bk., 117. The contents of gun-*barrel drains.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 301. Thus saistow, *olde barel ful of lies.
1436. Pol. Poems (1859), II. 169. To drinke a *barelle fulle Of gode berkyne.
1865. Rtldg’s Mag. Boys, Nov., 680. Another barrel-full of air is removed.
1840. Carlyle, Heroes, vi. 352. Who cannot do without standing on *barrel-heads, to spout.
1884. Littell’s Living Age, No. 2077, 90. Your … *barrel-stomached … Chinese porker.
1849. Freeman, Archit., 252. *Barrel-vaults prevail throughout the … building.
1851. Turner, Dom. Archit., I. vi. 214. The passage … is *barrel vaulted.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., *Barrel-work (Lake Sup.), native copper occurring in pieces of a size to be sorted out by hand in sufficient purity for smelting without mechanical concentration.
