(Zool.) A large American owl (Syrnium nebulosum); -- so called from the transverse bars of a dark brown color on the breast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.[ OE. barel, F. baril, prob. fr. barre bar. Cf. Barricade. ] 1. A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads; as, a cracker barrel. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 311/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A jar. [ Obs. ] 1 Kings xvii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) The hollow basal part of a feather. [ 1913 Webster ]

Barrel bulk (Com.), a measure equal to five cubic feet, used in estimating capacity, as of a vessel for freight. --
Barrel drain (Arch.), a drain in the form of a cylindrical tube. --
Barrel of a boiler, the cylindrical part of a boiler, containing the flues. --
Barrel of the ear (Anat.), the tympanum, or tympanic cavity. --
Barrel organ, an instrument for producing music by the action of a revolving cylinder. --
Barrel vault. See under Vault. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Barreled or Barrelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Barreling, or Barrelling. ] To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. barrel cacti /plu>. any of several large cacti native to the southwestern U. S. and Mexico, having a short cylindrical form with deep vertical ribs and bearing sharp spines. They are classed in the genera Ferocactus and Echinocactus. [ PJC ]

n. A blackish fish (Hyperglyphe perciformis) of New England waters.
Syn. -- black rudderfish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold.
Syn. -- barrel. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A cheap drinking and dancing establishment.
Syn. -- honky-tonk. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. 1. Having a barrel; -- used in composition; as, a double-barreled gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. put in or stored in a barrel; ; as, barreled beer; -- opposite of unbarreled. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. tapered toward both ends; -- of an arrow. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Metal.) A process of extracting gold or silver by treating the ore in a revolving barrel, or drum, with mercury, chlorine, cyanide solution, or other reagent. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ OE. barein, OF. brehaing, fem. brehaigne, baraigne, F. bréhaigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. brékhañ, markhañ, sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting. ] 1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said of women and female animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

She was barren of children. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile. “Barren mountain tracts.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brilliant but barren reveries. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils. --
Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions. --
Barren Ground bear (Zool.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe. --
Barren Ground caribou (Zool.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Grœnlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland. [ 1913 Webster ]