barrel
n. countablen. a large, round container with a flat top and bottom, usually made of wood or metal. People use barrels to hold and transport liquids like oil, wine, or beer.
n. a large cylindrical container, typically made of wood or metal, that bulges in the middle and has flat ends. It also serves as a standard unit of volume, particularly for crude oil.
The winery stores wine in oak barrels.
The price of oil is often quoted per barrel on the global market.
The old cooper demonstrated the traditional craft of assembling staves and hoops to form a watertight barrel, a skill passed down through generations.
From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish baril, beril or Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic barilaz, bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old High German biril (“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel (“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill (“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla (“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.
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barrel of laughs
A great amount of enjoyment or entertainment, or something or someone that provides this.
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barrel of monkeys
Someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc.
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scrape the bottom of the barrel
To settle for a poor option due to a lack or unavailability of anything more favorable.