barrel

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.
• noun The quantity that a barrel with a given or standard capacity will hold.
• noun Any of various units of volume or capacity. In the US Customary System it varies, as a liquid measure, from 31 to 42 gallons (117 to 159 liters) as established by law or usage.
• noun A cylindrical or hollow part, especially.
• noun The thicker portion of a baseball bat, from which the most powerful hits are struck.
• noun The cylindrical part of a firearm through which the bullet travels.
• noun A cylinder that contains a movable piston.
• noun The drum of a capstan.
• noun The cylinder within the mechanism of a timepiece that contains the mainspring.
• noun The trunk of a quadruped animal, such as a horse or cow.
• noun The tubular space inside a wave when it is breaking.
• noun Informal A large quantity.
• noun Slang An act or instance of moving rapidly, often recklessly, in a motor vehicle.
• adjective Resembling or similar to a barrel, as in shape.
• intransitive verb To put or pack in a barrel.
• intransitive verb To move or progress rapidly.
• idiom (barrel/barrelhead) Granting, giving, or requesting no credit.
• idiom (over a barrel) In a very awkward position from which extrication is difficult.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To put or pack in a barrel or barrels: as, to barrel beef, pork, or fish.
• noun In mining, a vessel by which water is lifted by engine or windlass from a sinking-shaft.
• noun A vessel or cask of a cylindrical form, generally bulging in the middle, usually made of wooden staves bound together with hoops, and having flat parallel heads.
• noun As a measure of capacity, the quantity of anything, liquid or solid, which a barrel should contain.
• noun The contents of a barrel: sometimes, like bottle, used to signify intoxicating drink.
• noun The money (especially when the sum is large) supplied by a candidate in a political campaign, for campaign expenses, but especially for corrupt purposes: hence, a barrel campaign is one in which money is lavishly employed to bribe voters: in this sense often written and pronounced bar'l (bärl), in humorous imitation of vulgar speech.
• noun Anything resembling a barrel; a drum or cylinder.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.
• noun 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. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
• noun 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.
• noun A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case.
• noun A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
• noun obsolete A jar.
• noun (Zoöl.) The hollow basal part of a feather.
• noun (Com.) a measure equal to five cubic feet, used in estimating capacity, as of a vessel for freight.
• noun (Arch.) a drain in the form of a cylindrical tube.
• noun the cylindrical part of a boiler, containing the flues.
• noun (Anat.) the tympanum, or tympanic cavity.
• noun an instrument for producing music by the action of a revolving cylinder.
• noun See under Vault.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun countable 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. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
• noun 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 31 1/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds; of beer 31 gallons; of ale 32 gallons; of crude oil 42 gallons.
• noun A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case;
• noun A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
• noun archaic A tube.
• noun zoology The hollow basal part of a feather.
• noun music The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and looks rather like a barrel (1).
• noun surfing A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.
• noun US A waste receptacle.
• noun The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.
• verb transitive To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.
• verb intransitive To move quickly or in an uncontrolled manner.