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Barb   /bɑrb/   Listen
noun
Barb  n.  
1.
Beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it. "The barbel, so called by reason of his barbs, or wattles in his mouth."
2.
A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners. (Obs.)
3.
pl. 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. (Written also barbel and barble)
4.
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."
5.
A bit for a horse. (Obs.)
6.
(Zool.) One of the side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane. See Feather.
7.
(Zool.) A southern name for the kingfishes of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States; also improperly called whiting.
8.
(Bot.) A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.


Barb  n.  
1.
The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors.
2.
(Zool.) A blackish or dun variety of the pigeon, originally brought from Barbary.


Barb  n.  Armor for a horse. Same as 2d Bard, n., 1.


verb
Barb  v. t.  (past & past part. barbed; pres. part. barbing)  
1.
To shave or dress the beard of. (Obs.)
2.
To clip; to mow. (Obs.)
3.
To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc. "But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Barb" Quotes from Famous Books



... little finger! You fair, foul devil, how I hate you!" She drew herself up to her full height, and regarded the wretched girl with such contemptuous scorn that even in her abject misery she felt its barb. ...
— Bred in the Bone • James Payn
... The porcupine's quills may be pulled out easily by anything which presses too rudely against them, such as the mouth of a mastiff; and this because they are very slightly attached by their roots, and have a barb upon their tops that takes hold upon any enemy that may attempt to touch them. This is the only defence the poor animal has got—as it is so slow of foot that any of its enemies can easily come up with it. But, notwithstanding its slowness, most of ...
— The Desert Home - The Adventures of a Lost Family in the Wilderness • Mayne Reid
... Higgins. "The same all over the world! A fence makes them see red. Barb wire is to 'em like a new steel trap to a wolf. Wonder if it ...
— The Plunderer • Henry Oyen
... as he saw The crimson drops out-welling from the wound; Shudder'd the warlike Menelaus' self; But when not buried in his flesh he saw The barb and ...
— The Iliad • Homer
... and cutting of several strangers' as well as citizens' hair and faces on the Lord's Day, which ought to be kept sacred, it is ordered by the whole consent of this court, and if any brother of the said Company shall at any time hereafter either by himself, servant, or substitute, tonse, barb, or trim any person on the Lord's Day, in any Inn or other public or private house or place, or shall go in or out of any such house or place on the said day with instruments used for that purpose, albeit the same cannot be positively proved, or made appear, but in case the Lord Mayor ...
— At the Sign of the Barber's Pole - Studies In Hirsute History • William Andrews


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