BARREL. A measure of capacity, equal to thirty-six gallons.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), 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]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Barreled (-r[e^]ld), or Barrelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Barreling, or Barrelling.]

To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

136 Moby Thesaurus words for "barrel": abundance, acres, bag, bags, ball the jack, barb, barbule, barrels, basket, beeline, bole, boom, bottle, bowl along, box, box up, breeze, breeze along, brush, burden, bushel, butt, can, capsule, carton, case, cask, cilium, clip, column, copiousness, countlessness, crate, cut along, cylinder, cylindroid, drum, encase, encyst, filament, filamentule, fill, fleet, flit, flood, fly, fly low, foot, freight, go fast, great deal, hamper, hasten, heap, heap up, highball, hogshead, hustle, jar, keg, lade, lashings, load, lot, lump, make knots, mass, mess, mountain, much, multitude, nip, numerousness, ocean, oceans, outstrip the wind, pack, pack away, package, parcel, peck, pile, pillar, pipe, plenitude, plenty, pocket, pot, pour it on, power, profusion, quantities, quantity, quill, rip, rocket, roll, roller, rouleau, run, rush, sack, scorch, sea, shaft, ship, sight, sizzle, skim, smoke, spate, speed, stack, store, storm along, stow, superabundance, superfluity, sweep, tank, tear, tear along, thunder along, tin, tons, trunk, tube, tun, volume, whisk, whiz, world, worlds, zing, zip, zoom

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

barrel

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Vault \Vault\ (v[add]lt; see Note, below), n. [OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. vo[^u]te, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See Voluble, and cf. Vault a leap, Volt a turn, Volute.]

1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy.

The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray.

2. An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, use for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. ``Charnel vaults.'' --Milton.

The silent vaults of death. --Sandys.

To banish rats that haunt our vault. --Swift.

3. The canopy of heaven; the sky.

That heaven's vault should crack. --Shak.

4. [F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above.]

A leap or bound. Specifically:
   (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet.
   (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like.

Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation.

Barrel, Cradle, Cylindrical, or Wagon, vault (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see Rampant vault, under Rampant), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church.

Coved vault. (Arch.) See under 1st Cove, v. t.

Groined vault (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault.

Rampant vault. (Arch.) See under Rampant.

Ribbed vault (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character.

Vault light, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Barreled (-r[e^]ld), or Barrelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Barreling, or Barrelling.]

To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), 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.

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.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)