<B>barrack</B> (2),<DL COMPACT><DD> (British and Australian.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> to express decided opinions vociferously; applaud or jeer. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to shout for or against (players or a team). noun <B>barracker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="barracks">
<B>barracks, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun pl. or sing. </I> <B>1. </B>a building or group of buildings for soldiers to live in, usually in a fort or military camp. <BR> <I>Ex. The barracks were plain wooden buildings with long rows of beds inside.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a large, plain building, or group of huts, especially within a common enclosure, in which many people live. <BR> <I>Ex. The old manor house was a regular barracks of a place.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to provide barracks for; locate in barracks. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to lodge in barracks. </DL>
<A NAME="barracksbag">
<B>barracks bag,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large bag of heavy cloth with a drawstring at the top, used by soldiers to carry their extra clothing and personal possessions from place to place; duffel bag. </DL>
<A NAME="barracoon">
<B>barracoon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a shed, set of sheds, or open enclosure formerly used to confine slaves or convicts temporarily. </DL>
<A NAME="barracouta">
<B>barracouta, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ta</B> or <B>-tas.</B> <B>=barracuda.</B></DL>
<A NAME="barracuda">
<B>barracuda, </B>noun, pl. <B>-da</B> or <B>-das.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several fish of tropical and subtropical seas that look like pike and have spiny fins. The great barracuda may grow to more than 5 1/2 feet in length and sometimes attacks man in the seas around the West Indies. It has never been known to attack man in the Pacific. </DL>
<A NAME="barrage">
<B>barrage, </B>noun, verb, <B>-raged,</B> <B>-raging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a barrier of artillery fire to check the enemy or to protect one's own soldiers in advancing or retreating. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a large number of words, blows, or other forms of attack, coming quickly one after the other. <BR> <I>Ex. The reporters kept up a barrage of questions for half an hour.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an artificial bar in a river; dam. <BR> <I>Ex. A barrage is going up on the Tigris to divert its flood waters from Baghdad into Wadi Tharthar, a 200-mile depression (Newsweek).</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to fire at with artillery; subject to a barrage. </DL>
<A NAME="barrageballoon">
<B>barrage balloon,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a balloon fastened with a rope or cable so that it can float at a certain height and sometimes support a net. Barrage balloons were used in World Wars I and II to force aircraft to maintain altitudes too high for accurate bombing. Their fabric is self-sealing if bullets puncture it. </DL>
<A NAME="barramunda">
<B>barramunda, </B>noun, pl. <B>-da</B> or <B>-das.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, freshwater, edible lungfish of Australia; ceratodus. </DL>
<A NAME="barramundi">
<B>barramundi, </B>noun, pl. <B>-di,</B> <B>-dis,</B> or <B>-dies.</B> <B>=barramunda.</B></DL>
<A NAME="barranca">
<B>barranca, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Southwestern U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a deep ravine or gorge with very steep sides. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bank or bluff with very steep sides. </DL>
<A NAME="barranco">
<B>barranco, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cos.</B> <B>=barranca.</B></DL>
<A NAME="barrathea">
<B>barrathea, </B>noun. <B>=barathea.</B></DL>
<A NAME="barrator">
<B>barrator</B> or <B>barrater, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who commits barratry. </DL>
<A NAME="barratrous">
<B>barratrous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> constituting or amounting to barratry. <BR> <I>Ex. No act can be barratrous to which the owners have ... been consenting parties (Joseph Arnould).</I> adv. <B>barratrously.</B> noun <B>barratrousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="barratry">
<B>barratry, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>fraud or gross negligence of a ship's officer, or seaman, against the ship's owners, insurers, or other interested parties. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act or practice of stirring up lawsuits or quarrels. <DD><B> 3. </B>the purchase or sale of ecclesiastical positions or state offices. </DL>
<A NAME="barrbody">
<B>Barr body,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a piece of chromosomal material in the nuclear membrane of female cells which stains darkly and is the remnant of one of the two female chromosomes (X chromosomes); sex chromatin. </DL>
<A NAME="barre">
<B>barre, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the rail by which ballet dancers support themselves when practicing. </DL>
<A NAME="barred">
<B>barred, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having bars. <BR> <I>Ex. a barred window.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>marked with stripes. <BR> <I>Ex. a chicken with barred feathers.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>not permitted; prohibited. <BR> <I>Ex. The use of radios is barred in libraries.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="barredowl">
<B>barred owl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, grayish-brown owl, with striped feathers on the breast. It lives especially in thickly wooded areas of eastern North America. </DL>
<A NAME="barredspiral">
<B>barred spiral,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Astronomy.) any one of a class of spiral nebulae characterized by a straight, luminous bar extending through the nucleus with spiral whorls extending from its ends. </DL>
<A NAME="barrel">
<B>barrel, </B>noun, verb, <B>-reled,</B> <B>-reling</B> or (especially British) <B>-relled,</B> <B>-relling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a container with a round, flat top and bottom and sides that curve out slightly. Barrels are usually made of boards held together by hoops or of cardboard reinforced with metal hoops at the tops and bottoms. (SYN) cask. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the amount that a barrel can hold. <BR> <I>Ex. They picked a barrel of apples.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a unit of measure for liquids and dry things. Its exact amount is not the same for all commodities, and is often fixed by law. In the United States the barrel for most dry things has 7,056 cubic inches or 115.62 liters; for most liquids, 31 1/2 gallons or 119.24 liters; for petroleum, 42 gallons or 158.98 liters. (Abbr:) bbl. <DD><B> 3. </B>any container, case, or part shaped somewhat like a barrel. <BR> <I>Ex. the barrel of a drum.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the metal tube of a gun. The bullet or shell is discharged through the barrel. <DD><B> 5. </B>the chamber of a pump in which the piston works. <DD><B> 6. </B>the cylindrical box containing the mainspring of a watch or clock. <DD><B> 7. </B>the quill of a feather; calamus. <DD><B> 8. </B>a revolving cylinder or drum around which a chain or rope is wound, such as that on a capstan or windlass. <DD><B> 9. </B>the vibrating portion of a bell between the top and the lower, thickened part. <DD><B> 10. </B>the part in which the ink of a fountain pen or ballpoint pen or the lead of a mechanical pencil is enclosed. <DD><B> 11. </B>the housing of a photographic lens, especially a telephoto lens. <DD><B> 12. </B>the central portion of the body of a horse, mule, cow, or other four-legged domestic animal. <DD><B> 13. </B>(Informal.) a great deal; much. <BR> <I>Ex. a barrel of fun, to eat a barrel of cookies.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to put in barrels. <BR> <I>Ex. We plan to barrel the cider next Wednesday.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> (U.S. Slang.) to move with great speed. <BR> <I>Ex. The new law ... cracks down on motorists, especially those who terrorize pedestrians by barrelling around corners (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>over a barrel,</B> </I>(Informal.) in a defenseless position; in distress. <BR> <I>Ex. He had his competitors over a barrel.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>scrape the</B> (or <B>bottom of the</B>) <B>barrel,</B> </I>to use up one's last resources. <BR> <I>Ex. This can run into money just when you've scraped the barrel to pay for the car (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="barrelage">
<B>barrelage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the amount contained in a barrel or barrels. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelcactus">
<B>barrel cactus,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very large, spiny, spherical cactus of Mexico and the southwestern United States. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelchair">
<B>barrel chair,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an upholstered chair with a relatively high, deep, curved back resembling a barrel with part of the front and sides cut away. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelchested">
<B>barrel-chested, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a round, broad chest. <BR> <I>Ex. In his fifties, ham-fisted and barrel-chested, George is the UMW district man in Sequatchie Valley (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="barreldistortion">
<B>barrel distortion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Optics.) a distortion produced by a lens causing the sides of a square to appear somewhat rounded, resembling those of a barrel. </DL>
<A NAME="barreled">
<B>barreled, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having a barrel or barrels. <BR> <I>Ex. a double-barreled gun.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>contained in barrels. <BR> <I>Ex. barreled beer.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="barrelful">
<B>barrelful, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the amount a barrel can hold. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelhead">
<B>barrelhead, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the top of a barrel. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelhouse">
<B>barrelhouse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>jazz with a strong tempo, especially as played by piano, drums, and brasses. <DD><B> 2. </B>(formerly) a low-class drinking saloon. </DL>
<B>barrel roll,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a complete revolution of a flying aircraft around its longitudinal axis, following a spiral path in a horizontal direction. </DL>
<A NAME="barrelvault">
<B>barrel vault,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a vault with a simple, semicylindrical roof, used especially in Roman and Romanesque architecture. </DL>
