Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAR'ON-Y, n.

The lordship, honor, or fee of a baron, whether spiritual or temporal. This lordship is held in chief of the king, and gives title to the possessor, or baron. Johnson. Encyc.

BAR'O-SCOPE, n. [Gr. βαρος, weight, and σκοπεω, to view.]

An instrument to show the weight of the atmosphere; superseded by the Barometer.

BAR-O-SCOP'IC, a.

Pertaining to or determined by the baroscope.

BAR-O-SEL'E-NITE, n. [Gr. βαρος, weight, or βαρυς, heavy, and selenite.]

A mineral; sulphate of baryta; heavy spar. Kirwan. Cleaveland.

BA-ROUCHE', n. [baroosh'.]

A four wheel carriage, with a falling top, with seats as in a coach.

BAR'RA, n.

In Portugal and Spain, a long measure for cloths. In Valencia, 13 barras make 12 6/7 yards English; in Castile, 7 are equal to 6 4/7 yards; in Arragon, 3 make 2 4/7 yards. Encyc.

BAR-RA-CA'DA, n.

A fish about fifteen inches in length, of a dusky color on the back, and a white belly, with small black spots. Dict. of Nat. Hist.

BAR'RA-CAN, n. [It. baracane; Sp. barragan; Fr. bouracan.]

A thick, strong stuff, something like camelet; used for clokes, surtouts, and other outer garments.

BAR'RACK, n. [Sp. barraca; Fr. baraque. It seems to be formed like Sax. parruc, a park, an inclosure.]

A hut or house for soldiers, especially in garrison. In Spain, a hut or cabin for fishermen.

BAR'RACK-MAS-TER, n.

The officer who superintends the barracks of soldiers. Swift.

BAR'RA-COON, n.

In Africa, a fort.

BAR-RA-CU'DA, n.

A species of fish of the Pike kind, found in the seas about the Bahamas and West Indies, of ten feet in length. The color is deep brown, and the fish is very voracious. The flesh is disagreeable, and sometimes poisonous. Catesby. Pennant.

BAR'RA-TOR, n. [Old Fr. barat, strife, deceit; Cimbric, baratton; Ice. and Scandinavian, baratta, contest; It. baratta, strife, quarrel; barattare, to barter, to cheat; Sp. barato, fraud, deceit; baratar, to barter, to deceive. The radical sense is, to turn, wind, and twist, whence to strive; L. verto; Eng. barter. See Barter.]

1. One who frequently excites suits at law; a common mover and maintainer of suits and controversies; an encourager of litigation. Coke. Blackstone.
2. The master of a ship who commits any fraud, in the management of the ship, or in relation to his duties as master, by which the owner or insurers are injured.

BAR'RA-TROUS, a.

Tainted with barratry.

BAR'RA-TROUS-LY, adv.

In a barratrous manner. Kent.

BAR'RA-TRY, n.

1. The practice of exciting and encouraging lawsuits and quarrels. Coke. Blackstone.
2. In commerce, any species of cheating or fraud, in a shipmaster, by which the owners or insurers are injured; as, by running away with the ship, sinking or deserting her, by willful deviation, or by embezzling the cargo. Park.

BAR'RED, pp.

Fastened with a bar; hindered; restrained; excluded; forbid; striped; checkered.

BAR'REL, n. [W. Fr. baril; Sp. barril; It. barile; Arm. baraz.]

1. A vessel or cask, of more length than breadth, round and bulging in the middle, made of staves and heading, and bound with hoops.
2. The quantity which a barrel contains. Of wine measure, the English barrel contains 31 1/2 gallons; of beer measure, 36 gallons; of ale, 32 gallons; and of beer-vinegar, 34 gallons. Of weight, a barrel of Essex butter is 106 pounds; of Suffolk butter, 256; a barrel of herrings should contain 32 gallons wine measure, and hold 1000 herrings; a barrel of salmon should contain 42 gallons; a barrel of soap should weigh 256 lbs. Johnson. Encyc. In America, the contents of a barrel are regulated by statutes. In Connecticut, the barrel for liquors must contain 31 1/2 gallons, each gallon to contain 231 cubic inches. In New York, a barrel of flour by statute must contain either 196 lbs. or 228 lbs. nett weight. The barrel of beef and pork in New York and Connecticut, is 200 lbs. In general, the contents of barrels, as defined by statute, in this country, must be from 28 to 31 gallons.
3. Any thing hollow and long; as, the barrel of a gun; a tube.
4. A cylinder; as, the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled, and round which is wound the chain.
5. A cavity behind the tympanum of the ear is called the barrel of the ear. It is four or five lines deep, and five or six wide, and covered with a fine membrane. It is more usually called the cavity of the tympanum. Encyc. Johnson.

BAR'REL, v.t.

To put in a barrel; to pack in a barrel with salt for preservation; as, to barrel beef, pork, or fish.

BAR'REL-BEL-LIED, a. [See Belly.]

Having a large belly. Dryden.

BAR'REL-ED, pp.

1. Put or packed in a barrel.
2. In composition, having a barrel or tube; as, a double-barreled gun.

BAR'REL-ING, ppr.

Putting or packing in a barrel.

BAR'REN, a. [from the same root as bare.]

1. Not producing young, or offspring; applied to animals.
2. Not producing plants; unfruitful; steril; not fertile; or producing little; unproductive; applied to the earth.
3. Not producing the usual fruit; applied to trees, &c.
4. Not copious; scanty; as, a scheme barren of hints. Swift.
5. Not containing useful or entertaining ideas; as, a barren treatise.
6. Unmeaning; uninventive; dull; as, barren spectators. Shak. Johnson. Qu.
7. Unproductive; not inventive; as, a barren mind.

BAR'REN, n.

1. In the States west of the Allegany, a word used to denote a tract of land, rising a few feet above the level of a plain, and producing trees and grass. The soil of these barrens is not barren, as the name imports, but often very fertile. It is usually alluvial, to a depth sometimes of several feet. Atwater, Journ. of Science.
2. Any unproductive tract of land; as, the pine barrens of South Carolina. Drayton.

BAR'REN-LY, adv.

Unfruitfully.