barrow

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæ.ɹəʊ/
• (US) enPR: bărʹō, IPA^(key): /ˈbæɹ.oʊ/
• (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛɹ.oʊ/, /ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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  (Mary–marry–merry distinction)

• Audio (US)

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  (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -æɹəʊ

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg (“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”), from Proto-West Germanic *berg, from Proto-Germanic *bergaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos, from *bʰerǵʰ-. Cognate with Scots burrow (“mound, tumulus, barrow”), Saterland Frisian Bäirch, Bierich (“mountain”), West Frisian berch (“mountain”), Dutch berg (“mountain”), Low German Barg (“mountain”), German Berg (“mountain”), Danish bjerg (“mountain”), Swedish berg (“mountain”), Norwegian berg (“rock, mountain, hillock, rock bottom”), Icelandic berg (“mountain”), bjarg (“rock”), Northern Luri برگ (berg, “mountain,hill”), Polish brzeg (“bank, shore”), Russian бе́рег (béreg, “bank, shore, land”).

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (obsolete) A mountain.
2. (chiefly British) A hill.
3. A mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.

   Synonym: See burial mound § Synonyms

   Meronym: dolmen

4. (mining) A heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.

From Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe, from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”), from Proto-West Germanic *barwā, *barwijā, from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere (“wheelbarrow”)), from *beraną (“to bear”). More at bear.

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (British) A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.

   Synonyms: handcart, pushcart, trolley

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

   • 2022 December 14, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35:

     In contrast, the Westminster Gazette in 1912 was much more positive about railway staff, praising the "...army of porters hustling and bustling hither and thither with barrows groaning under the weight of bags and baggage and... the ever-patient and long-suffering guards, courteously giving information and advice to the querulous passengers... to the porter the Christmas season means a continuous round of heavy labour, extremely tiring to both nerves and temper, and this fact the public too often seem either to forget or ignore."

2. (saltworks) A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.

• barra (Geordie)

From Middle English barow, bareȝ, bareh, from Old English bearg, bearh (“boar”), from Proto-West Germanic *barug, *barah, from Proto-Germanic *barugaz, *barahaz. Cognate with Old Frisian barch, Old Saxon barug, Old High German barug (German Borg), Old Norse bǫrgr.

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (obsolete except in scientific use and in some dialects) A castrated boar.

From Middle English *berwe, *borwe, *bergh (attested in hamberwe and berwham (“horse-collar”)), from Middle English berwen (“to protect”), from Old English beorgan (“to protect”).

barrow (plural barrows)

1. A long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.