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PlainSpell

barrel

bar·rel/ˈbæɹəl/noun, verb

barrel is spelled B-A-R-R-E-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables (bar·rel). It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, barrel means “A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of barrel is barrels.

How many letters and syllables are in barrel?

Letters6: B-A-R-R-E-L
Syllables2: bar·rel
In writing15 times per million words; the 5,407th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is barrel?

Barrel appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce barrel?

  • UK /ˈbæɹ(ə)l/
  • UK [ˈbæɹəɫ]
  • US /ˈbæɹəl/

Barrel has 2 syllables, split bar·rel in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ne-Barrel.ogg, En-us-barrel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with barrel?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as barrel from its last stressed vowel (/æɹəl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of barrel

  • barrels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • barreling US, participle, present
  • barrelling UK, participle, present
  • barreled US, participle, past
  • barrelled UK, participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does barrel mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

    Near-synonym: cask

  2. 2

    Such a cask of a certain size, holding one-eighth of what a tun holds. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)

  3. 3

    The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.

  4. 4

    A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case

    the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled.

  5. 5

    A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.

  6. 6

    A venturi (in carburetion).

  7. 7

    A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.

  8. 8

    archaicAny tube.

verb

  1. 1

    To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

  2. 2

    To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.

    He came barrelling around the corner and I almost hit him.

  3. 3

    To assume the shape of a barrel; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit barrel distortion, where the sides bulge outwards.

  4. 4

    slangTo bet consecutively on multiple streets.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate barrel?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of barrel: bar..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Barrel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtonneau, barrique, futaille (round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop), baril (quantity), canon (metallic tube of a gun), barillet (part of a clarinet)
GermanFass, Tonne, Gebinde (round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop), Barrel (quantity), Trommel, Hohlzylinder (solid drum, hollow cylinder or case)
Portuguesebarril (round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop), tonel (quantity), cano (metallic tube of a gun), embarrilar (put or pack in a barrel or barrels)
Spanishbarril, tonel, cuñete, bocoy, barrica (round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop), embarrilar (put or pack in a barrel or barrels)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does barrel come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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