Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BARB'EL, n. [L. barba; Fr. barbeau; D. barbeel.]

1. A fish of the genus Cyprinus, of the order of Abdominals. The mouth is toothless; the gill has three rays; the body is smooth and white. This fish is about three feet long, and weighs 18 pounds. It is a very coarse fish, living in deep still rivers and rooting like swine in the soft banks. Its dorsal fin is armed with a strong spine, sharply serrated, from which circumstance it probably received its name. – Encyc.
2. A knot of superfluous flesh, growing in the channels of a horse's mouth; written also barble, or barb. – Encyc. Farrier's Dict.