Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Barb |
BarbNoun1. An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect; "his parting shot was `drop dead'"; "she threw shafts of sarcasm"; "she takes a dig at me every chance she gets". 2. The pointed part of barbed wire. 3. A subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove. 4. One of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather. Verb1. Provide with barbs; "barbed wire". 2. Provide with barbs, as of fences, for example; "barbed wire". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "barb" was first used: sometime around 1390. (references) |
Etymology: Barb \Barb\, noun. [French barbe, from Latin barba beard. See Beard, noun]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Geography | Dash, drawn to the left of a wind shaft in the northern hemisphere and to the right in the southern hemisphere, which represents wind speed. Each barb represents 10 knots, each half-barb 5 knots. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Barb An arrow. The feathers under the beak of a hawk were called barb feathers (beard feathers). The point of an arrow has two iron "feathers," which stick out so as to hinder the extraction of the arrow. (Latin, barba, a beard.) N.B. - The barb is not the feather on the upper part of the shaft, but the hooked iron point or head. Barb A Barbary steed, noted for docility, speed, endurance, and spirit. (See Barbed Steeds.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Australian Kelpie Alternative names
Australian Sheep Dog Barb Kelpie Country of origin Australia Classification
FCI: Group 1 Section 1 ANKC: Group 5 (Working Dogs) CKC: Miscellaneous Class NZKC: Working Breed standards (external links) FCI, ANKC NZKC Notes The Canadian "miscellaneous class" is for
breeds working towards full recognition.The Kelpie is an Australian breed of sheep dog, which has proven very successful at herding sheep in the mountainous areas of New Zealand. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours, including red and black with white tips.
They are clever, loyal and friendly and typically have an excess of nervous energy. They are renowned for running along the back of sheep when they are herding them.
Some people claim that kelpies have some dingo blood. A possible reason for this belief is that, in areas where it is illegal to keep dingoes as pets, some dingo owners register their animals as kelpies or kelpie crosses.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Australian Kelpie."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
BARB | English | Broadcasters'Audience Research Board | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: BarbSynonyms: dig (n), gibe (n), jibe (n), shaft (n), shot (n), slam (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Carrier | Beast, beast of burden, cattle, horse, nag, palfrey, Arab, blood horse, thoroughbred, galloway, charger, courser, racer, hunter, jument, pony, filly, colt, foal, barb, roan, jade, hack, bidet, pad, cob, punch, roadster, goer; racehorse, pack horse, draft horse, cart horse, dray horse, post horse; ketch; Shetland pony, shelty, sheltie; garran, garron; jennet, genet, bayard, mare, stallion, gelding; bronco, broncho, cayuse; creature, critter; cow pony, mustang, Narraganset, waler; stud. |
Pain | Wring, harrow, torment, torture; bullyrag; put to the rack, put to the question; break on the wheel, rack, scarify; cruciate, crucify; convulse, agonize; barb the dart; plant a dagger in the breast, plant a thorn in one's side. |
Sharpness | Render sharp; Adjective: sharpen, point, aculeate, whet, barb, spiculate, set, strop, grind; chip. |
Point, spike, spine, spicule, spiculum; needle, hypodermic needle, tack, nail, pin; prick, prickle; spur, rowel, barb; spit, cusp; horn, antler; snag; tag thorn, bristle; Adam's needle, bear grass, tine, yucca. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Barb |
| English words defined with "barb": aculeate, aculeated ♦ Barbed, Barbing, Barbule, Barde, butt shaft ♦ fluke ♦ Harl. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "barb": fish hook, FISHING ACCESSORIES MAKER. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "barb": Berbe. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Barb" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Manx (a sharp point, cruel, drastic, javelin, rough, sharp), Swedish (barbel). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Barb, honey we're dead (Beetlejuice; writing credit: Michael McDowell; Warren Skaaren) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Barb Wire (1922) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Barb Gibbons and ranch manager checking condition of range under rotational grazing system. Credit: Gary Kramer. |  | A stream barb controls bank erosion on a small stream. Credit: Dave Eby. |
 | Barb Landgraf and ranch manager on rangeland in Beaverhead County, MT. Credit: Gary Kramer. |  | The unfortunate "barb" who is left to the promiscuous friendships of the cheap boarding house. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Barb wire fence" by Tammy Sharp Commentary: "Piece of wood used to tighten a barb wire fence." | "Fence" by lolly99 Commentary: "Close up of barb wire fence." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Richard Brinsley Sheridan | There's no possibility of being witty without a little ill-nature -- the malice of a good thing is the barb that makes it stick. |
Soren Kierkegaard | Since my earliest childhood a barb of sorrow has lodged in my heart. As long as it stays I am ironic -- if it is pulled out I shall die. |
Walter Savage Landor | The flame of anger, bright and brief, sharpens the barb of love. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "Barb" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 72.73% of the time. "Barb" is used about 44 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 72.73% | 32 | 61,292 |
| Noun (proper) | 22.73% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Unclassified Items | 4.55% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 44 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "barb" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Barb | First name Female | 6,000 | 1,188 |
| Barb | Last name | 1,000 | 13,356 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "barb": barb-wire. | |
Ending with "barb": T-barb. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
barb wire | 537 | al barb bill franken o reilly trade | 11 |
barb | 210 | barb pottery | 10 |
tiger barb | 111 | barb breeding tiger | 9 |
barb tarbox | 55 | gold barb | 8 |
barb wire tattoo | 52 | green tiger barb | 8 |
tinfoil barb | 27 | spanish barb | 8 |
tiger barb fish | 20 | barb ie.com | 7 |
cherry barb | 20 | alton barb | 7 |
barb fish | 18 | barb black ruby | 7 |
barb wire fence | 18 | barb wire fencing | 7 |
barb bingo | 17 | barb fitting | 7 |
rosy barb | 17 | barb promisance wire | 7 |
barb wire picture | 16 | barb combative | 7 |
pamela anderson barb wire | 16 | barb jillian | 7 |
barb horse | 14 | barb large lovely | 6 |
hose barb | 14 | barb coolwaters.com | 6 |
barb foil tin | 13 | barb granny | 6 |
barb elite | 13 | elite barb wheels | 5 |
barb wire pic | 12 | barb combative woman | 5 |
barb wire the movie | 12 | barb lindquist | 5 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "barb"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | mustaqe peshku, kundërmajë (fluke), gjemb (blackthorn, pricker, prickle, spine, sticker, thorn), dhëmbëz (cog, Dent, denticle, dentil, jag, merlon, Nock, notch, notching, pallet, tooth). (various references) | |
Arabic | نصل (blade), لحية (beard), غطاء للرأس (headdress), تعليق لاذع, عذار, البربل زائدة متدلية من فم السمكة, أسلة, شوكة (backbone, fang, goad, pricket, prickle, spine, spur, thorn), شعرة من شعر طائر العراق. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | шип (calk, ferrule, journal, nib, prick, prickle, rough, spine, spur, thorn), мустаче (antenna, barbell, cirrus, feeler, runner, shoot, tendril, tentacle, trailer), пипалце (cirrus, feeler, palp, palpus). (various references) | |
Chinese | 矛頭 (an attack or criticism, spearhead), 倒钩. (various references) | |
Czech | vous (hair), ozub (calk, cog), osten šípu, háèek udice. (various references) | |
Danish | vimpel (feather, pennant), pig (spike, spike tooth, tack, wire nail), fane (flag, standard). (various references) | |
Dutch | baard van een veer, vlag (banner, flag), stekel (prickle, sting), dwarsstreepje (feather). (various references) | |
Farsi | پیکاندارکردن , پیکان (Arrow, Dart), نوک (Apex, Ascendant, Bill, End, Head, Horn, Jag, Peak, Point, Ridge, Summit, Tip, Top, Vertex), خاردارکردن (Porcupine), خار (Bur, Burr, Goad, Jag, Prick, Teazle, Thorn), ریش (Beard, Sore, Ulcer, Ulcerous, Whisker). (various references) | |
Finnish | väkä, tuuliväkänen (feather), piikki (fling, prick, prickle, prong, spike, spine, sting, taunt, thorn, tooth). (various references) | |
French | barbule, barbillon (barbel), barbelure, barbe (barbel), trait, aiguillon. (various references) | |
German | widerhaken (barbed hook, barbs, fluke), stachel (goad, Pike, prick, prickle, quill, Spike, spine, spur, sting, thorn), bart (beard, whiskers). (various references) | |
Greek | γένια (stubble), πτερύγιο (blade, fin, flap, flipper, pinion, vane), αγκάθι (prickle, spine, thistle, thorn). (various references) | |
Hebrew | עוקץ (acantha, briar, mordant, point, pointed, sarcasm, spine, sting, tip), חוד (bit, edge, nib, nose, pinpoint, point, sharpness, tip, tooth). (various references) | |
Hungarian | horgas vég. (various references) | |
Indonesian | mata kail, janggut (beard), duri (bur, fish bone, prickle, spine, thorn). (various references) | |
Italian | barbiglio (barbel), barbetta (chin beard), barba (awn, beard, bore, whiskers), spina (bone, fishbone, jack, jumper, male, male connector, plug, prick, prickle, spine, tap, thorn), punta; spina; aculeo, punta uncinata. (various references) | |
Korean | 미늘. (various references) | |
Manx | wheddyr, piyl, frioggan (beard, beard of hook, bristle, dander, fin, offence, offend), cur wheddyr er, cur piyl er, caulg (beard of barley, bristle, prickle, testiness, truculence). (various references) | |
Norwegian | brodd, tagg (jag), mothake. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arbbay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | barba (beard, chin). (various references) | |
Russian | зубец (claw, cog, fork, indentation, jag, merlon, prong, serration, tine, tooth). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | bodlja (pricker, quill, spine, thorn). (various references) | |
Spanish | barba (beard, bone, chin, jowl, wattle, whiskers). (various references) | |
Swedish | hulling (fluke). (various references) | |
Thai | เงี่ยงปลา, ติดสิ่งมีคม. (various references) | |
Turkish | sakal (beard, beaver, fungus, pogono-, whiskers), ok ucu, mağrip atı, kuş tüyünün bir kılı, kanca (catch, crampiron, crook, grapnel, grapple, grappling hook, grappling iron, holdfast, hook), iğneli söz (biting words, cutting words, epigram, rapier thrust, sideswipe), iğneleyici söz (biting words, cutting words, quirk, sideswipe), diken (briar, brier, prick, pricker, prickle, quill, spicule, spine, thorn, thornbush, thorny plant, trichome). (various references) | |
Turkmen | tiken (prickle, thorn). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | колючка (bur, prick, prickle, sticker, stickleback, thorn, tiddler), білий плоєний нагрудник черниці, задирка (bur, burr, hangnail), защерблювати, знімати задирки, образити (hurt one's feelings), вусик (antenna, cirrus, tendril, tentacle, whisker), підрізати (clip, pare, prune, tip, trim), колкість, ящур (murrain), косити (mow down, scythe, shear), шип (bur, buzz, calk, nib, prick, prickle, tenon), шпилька (nip, pin, preen, tenon, wisecrack), щербина (chip), робити зубці, уколоти (pinprick, pique, puncture), уразити (pinprick, shoot, wound), вістря (edge, nib, peak, pile, prick, spearhead, spire). (various references) | |
Welsh | barf (beard, whiskers), adfach (liver-fluke). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | aculei, barba. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | barbe. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "barb": barbal, barbarian, barbarianism, barbarianisms, barbarians, barbaric, barbarically, barbarism, barbarisms, barbarities, barbarity, barbarization, barbarizations, barbarize, barbarized, barbarizes, barbarizing, barbarous, barbarously, barbarousness, barbarousnesses, barbasco, barbascoes, barbascos, barbate, barbe, barbecue, barbecued, barbecuer, barbecuers, barbecues, barbecuing, barbed, barbel, barbell, barbells, barbels, barbeque, barbequed, barbeques, barbequing, barber, barbered, barbering, barberries, barberry, barbers, barbershop, barbershops, barbes, barbet. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "barb": rhubarb. (additional references) | |
Words containing "barb": amobarbital, amobarbitals, hexobarbital, hexobarbitals, nonbarbiturate, nonbarbiturates, pentobarbital, pentobarbitals, pentobarbitone, pentobarbitones, phenobarbital, phenobarbitals, phenobarbitone, phenobarbitones, rebarbative, rebarbatively, rhubarbs, secobarbital, secobarbitals, unbarbed, unbarbered. (additional references) | |
| |
"Barb" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: abeb, Baarh, ba-ba, Babr, Bahru, Bairab, balb, Baraba, barba, Barbak, barbe, barbi, barby, barc, barg, Bariba, barp, barq, baru, barx, Bawb, bcab, birv, borbe, brb, burb, farb, jarb, kabr, larb, narb, yarb, zarb. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "barb" (pronounced bÄ"rb) |
| 4 | b Ä" r b | Barbe. |
| 3 | -Ä" r b | arb, garb. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-b-r" | |
-1 letter: arb, bar, bra. | |
-2 letters: ab, ar, ba. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-b-r" | |
+1 letter: barbe, barbs, rabbi. | |
+2 letters: absorb, barbal, barbed, barbel, barber, barbes, barbet, barbut, bicarb, bulbar, busbar, crabby, dabber, gabber, gabbro, grabby, jabber, nabber, rabbet, rabbin, rabbis, rabbit, rabble, yabber. | |
+3 letters: absorbs, babbler, barbate, barbell, barbels, barbers, barbets, barbing, barbule, barbuts, belabor, bicarbs, blabber, bombard, brabble, bramble, brambly, bugbear, busbars, clabber, crabbed, crabber, crybaby, dabbers, dabbler, drabbed, drabber, drabbet, drabble, gabbard, gabbart, gabbers, gabbier, gabbler, gabbros, grabbed, grabber, grabble, jabbers, nabbers, rabbets, rabbies, rabbins, rabbits, rabbity, rabbled, rabbler, rabbles, rabboni, rhubarb, ribband, rubaboo, slabber, stabber, swabber, wabbler, yabbers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Abbreviations | 17. Acronyms 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
