barb

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“
The US President†™ s beef wasn†™ t really with Bangalore; the barb was aimed more at US firms and their wily ways.

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Definitions (41)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun A sharp point projecting in reverse direction to the main point of a weapon or tool, as on an arrow or fishhook.
  2. noun A cutting remark.
  3. noun Zoology One of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather.
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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • Something like a barb-tailed desert scorpion, living under a rock. —  Gardner Dozois - The Year's Best Science Fiction 23rd Annual Collection (2006)
  • Sorry, Joyce .... my barb was directed at Lemongrass not Disney. —  Blog updates
  • In my mind, the barb was deserved, if indeed, it really was a barb. —  Lone Prairie
  • The Obama campaign denied that Biden's barb was aimed at Sarah Palin, but who else gave a speech mentioning special needs kids in the last two weeks? —  bioethics.com
  • The ultrasound found the remainder of the barb, and that had to be removed, so I got that done on Monday, and that's that. —  AFL Latest News and Broadband
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Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English barbe, from Old French, beard, from Latin barba; see bhardh-ā- in Indo-European roots.
  2. French barbe, from Italian barbero, Berber, from Vulgar Latin Barbaria, Barbary States, from Latin barbarus, barbarous; see barbarous.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English barbe, from Old French barbe, French barbe = Provencal Spanish Portuguese Italian barba, from Latin barba, beard: see beard.
  2. from Old French barber, shave, from barbe, beard. In English the verb is now generally regarded as formed from barber, like peddle from peddler, and is used only colloquially.
  3. A corruption of bard, perhaps by confusion with barb, a beard, or barb, a Barbary horse.
  4. from barb, n.
  5. from French barbe, a Barbary horse (Middle Latin cavallus de barba, indicating a supposed connection with L. barba, a beard), from Barbarie, Barbary: see barbary.
 

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/bɑrb/
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