barb
/bɑː(ɹ)b/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.31 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A hurtful or disparaging remark.
noun
One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
noun
Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
noun
The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "Having two barbs or points."
- "to trade barbs"
- "And she was the only girl in class who did not, sometime through the lesson, get a barb of sarcasm from Miss Brownell, though she made as many mistakes as the rest of them."
- "“Maybe I just wanted to come and see for myself if you were real. Or if you were a figment of my imagination.” The barb hurt, but she didn't blame him."
- "His barbs about fake accounts have weakened trust in Twitter, just as the company prepares to moderate heated political discussions about an upcoming election in Brazil and the midterm elections this fall in the United States, misinformation experts said."
- "The barbel is so called […]by reason of his barbs, or wattles at his mouth."
Etymology
PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
bandula barb
black ruby barb
burnt-tailed barb
Denison barb
Denison's barb
giant barb
hose barb
Java barb