What does barrel mean?
A barrel is a large, bulging cylindrical container with flat ends, classically built from curved wooden staves held tight by metal hoops. For centuries barrels were the workhorses of global trade, shipping wine, beer, salted meat, nails, and gunpowder across oceans, and they remain essential in brewing and spirits-making, where oak barrels actively shape the flavor and color of whiskey and wine. Beyond its physical form, barrel survives as a unit of measurement: the standard oil barrel of 42 US gallons underpins how the world quotes petroleum production and prices. The word also appears in idioms — someone who is 'a barrel of laughs' is great fun, while 'scraping the barrel' means resorting to the last, weakest options. As a verb, chiefly in American English, to barrel is to move rapidly and unstoppably, as when a truck comes barreling down a road.
A large cylindrical container with flat ends, traditionally of wooden staves and metal hoops, used for storing and transporting liquids or dry goods.
"Rainwater was collected in a barrel beside the barn."
Also denotes a standard measure of 42 US gallons for crude oil.
(Informal, chiefly North American) To move somewhere very fast and often uncontrollably.
"The kids went barreling down the sledding hill."
British spelling is typically 'barrelling'.
Standard plural; commonly used in commercial contexts such as 'barrels of oil per day'.
"The refinery processes hundreds of thousands of barrels every day."
The oil barrel's 42-gallon size comes from an 1860s Pennsylvania oilfield standard — and no one ever actually ships oil in a barrel.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of barrel
Barrel entered English from Old French 'baril', likely borrowed in the medieval period alongside the trade goods those casks carried. Its deeper origin is uncertain — possibly Gaulish or Celtic, though some scholars link it to Latin roots. It shares its French source with words like 'barrique', the Bordeaux wine-cask term still used today. The word has been central to commerce for so long that entire measurement systems, including the oil barrel, grew out of it.
Related word forms
How barrel is actually used
Barrel is a common, neutral word used in both everyday and technical contexts. In American English it also functions informally as a verb meaning to move very fast ('we came barreling down the hill'), a usage less common in British English. The spelling of the -ed and -ing forms varies: 'barreled/barreling' in the US versus 'barrelled/barrelling' in Britain.
Easily confused with barrel
Barrel is a container or unit of measure, while barren describes land that is infertile or unable to produce vegetation.