BARROW

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does barrow mean? 

• BARROW (noun)
  The noun BARROW has 3 senses:

1. the quantity that a barrow will hold

2. (archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

3. a cart for carrying small loads; has handles and one or more wheels

  Familiarity information: BARROW used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BARROW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quantity that a barrow will hold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

barrow; barrowful

Hypernyms ("barrow" is a kind of...):

containerful (the quantity that a container will hold)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

barrow; burial mound; grave mound; tumulus

Hypernyms ("barrow" is a kind of...):

hill; mound (structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones)

Domain category:

archaeology; archeology (the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cart for carrying small loads; has handles and one or more wheels

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

barrow; garden cart; lawn cart; wheelbarrow

Hypernyms ("barrow" is a kind of...):

cart; go-cart; handcart; pushcart (wheeled vehicle that can be pushed by a person; may have one or two or four wheels)

 Context examples 

To the right of this stood, and stands to this day, an ancient barrow, or burying mound, covered deeply in a bristle of heather and bracken.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Here you, matey, he cried to the man who trundled the barrow; bring up alongside and help up my chest.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Here also I find an account of the Addleton tragedy, and the singular contents of the ancient British barrow.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From this time my constant practice was, as soon as I rose, to perform that business in open air, at the full extent of my chain; and due care was taken every morning before company came, that the offensive matter should be carried off in wheel-barrows, by two servants appointed for that purpose.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Heaven reward you for your kindness and self-denial! said Hans, as he gave the butcher the cow; and taking the pig off the wheel-barrow, drove it away, holding it by the string that was tied to its leg.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Out of the tangled scrub on the old overgrown barrow two human faces were looking out at him; the sinking sun glimmered full upon them, showing up every line and feature.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“The black man fled over to that side,” said Alleyne, pointing towards the barrow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The man who came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)