barb
noun
[ bɑːb ]
• a sharp projection near the end of an arrow, fish hook, or similar object, which is angled away from the main point so as to make extraction difficult.
Similar:
spike,
prong,
point,
projection,
spur,
thorn,
needle,
prickle,
spine,
quill,
bristle,
tine,
spicule,
spicula,
spiculum,
spinule,
• a fleshy filament at the mouth of some fish, such as barbel and catfish.
• a freshwater fish with barbels around the mouth, popular in aquaria.
Origin:
Middle English (denoting a piece of linen worn over or under the chin by nuns): from Old French barbe, from Latin barba ‘beard’.
barb
noun
• a small horse of a hardy breed originally from North Africa.
Origin:
mid 17th century: from French barbe, from Italian barbero ‘of Barbary’.
barb
verb
• cut or style (a person's hair).
• "he has barbed the hair of any celebrity you can think of"
Origin:
mid 16th century (in now obsolete British use, in the sense ‘shave or trim a man's beard’, from the French verb barber, from barbe ‘beard’): in modern Nigerian use a back-formation from barber.
