Part 534

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.

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

5. A jar. [Obs.] 1 Kings xvii. 12.

6. (Zoöl.) The hollow basal part of a feather.

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.

Bar"rel (br"rl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Barreled (-rld), or Barrelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Barreling, or Barrelling.] To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

{ Bar"reled, Bar"relled } (&?;), a. Having a barrel; -- used in composition; as, a double-barreled gun.

Bar"ren (br"ren), a. [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, fem. brehaigne, baraigne, F. bréhaigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. brékhañ, markhañ, sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.] 1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said of women and female animals.

She was barren of children.

Bp. Hall.

2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile. "Barren mountain tracts." Macaulay.

3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.

Brilliant but barren reveries. Prescott.

Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. Swift.

4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak.

Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils. -- Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions. -- Barren Ground bear (Zoöl.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe. -- Barren Ground caribou (Zoöl.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Grœnlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.

Bar"ren, n. 1. A tract of barren land.

2. pl. Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.] J. Pickering.

Bar"ren*ly, adv. Unfruitfully; unproductively.

Bar"ren*ness, n. The condition of being barren; sterility; unproductiveness.

A total barrenness of invention. Dryden.

Bar"ren*wort` (&?;), n. (Bot.) An herbaceous plant of the Barberry family (Epimedium alpinum), having leaves that are bitter and said to be sudorific.

Bar"ret (&?;), n. [F. barrette, LL. barretum a cap. See Berretta, and cf. Biretta.] A kind of cap formerly worn by soldiers; -- called also barret cap. Also, the flat cap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics.

Bar`ri*cade" (&?;), n. [F. barricade, fr. Sp. barricada, orig. a barring up with casks; fr. barrica cask, perh. fr. LL. barra bar. See Bar, n., and cf. Barrel, n.]

1. (Mil.) A fortification, made in haste, of trees, earth, palisades, wagons, or anything that will obstruct the progress or attack of an enemy. It is usually an obstruction formed in streets to block an enemy's access.

2. Any bar, obstruction, or means of defense.

Such a barricade as would greatly annoy, or absolutely stop, the currents of the atmosphere. Derham.