barrow

B3A1R1R1O1W4
UK/ˈbæɹəʊ/US, dialectal/ˈbæɹoʊ//ˈbɛɹoʊ//ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/

noun

A mountain.

“Meronym: dolmen”

Similar
See burial mound § Synonymsbarrowfulburial moundgrave moundtumulusgarden cartlawn cartwheelbarrow
OriginMiddle English berwe ← Old English beorg ← Proto-West Germanic *berg →
Less commonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

barrow1

nounbarrow (plural barrows)

plural barrows

  1. obsoleteA mountain.
  2. UKA hill.
  3. A mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.

    Meronym: dolmen

    1 more example

    “Will you ask our oldest warriors to build me a barrow?”

    1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 47

    Synonyms: See burial mound § Synonyms

  4. businessA heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.

barrow2

nounbarrow (plural barrows)

plural barrows · alternative Geordie barra

  1. UKA small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.
    2 more examples

    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.

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

    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."

    2022 December 14, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35
  2. A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.

barrow3

nounbarrow (plural barrows)

plural barrows

  1. obsolete except in scientific use and in some dialectsA castrated boar.

barrow4

nounbarrow (plural barrows)

plural barrows

  1. A long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.

Barrow5

proper nounBarrow (countable and uncountable, plural Barrows)

plural Barrows

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. countableuncountableFormer name of Utqiagvik: the borough seat of North Slope Borough, Alaska, renamed in 2016.
  3. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Greene County, Illinois.
  4. A number of places in England:
    1. countableuncountableA civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester district, Cheshire, which includes the settlements of Great Barrow and Little Barrow.
    2. countableuncountableA civil parish with a town council in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, which replaced the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness on 1 April 2023.

      The Conservatives lost Carlisle, Penrith and Solway, Whitehaven and Workington, Barrow and Furness and Morecambe and Lunesdale.

      2024 July 5, “Labour seizes Cumbria winning five of six seats”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2024, retrieved 02 Sep 2026
    3. countableuncountableA hamlet in Boddington parish, Tewkesbury district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref SO8824).
    4. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Ribble Valley district, Lancashire, previously in Wiswell parish (OS grid ref SD7338).
    5. countableuncountableA village and civil parish (without a council) in Rutland (OS grid ref SK8915).
    6. countableuncountableA hamlet and civil parish in Much Wenlock ward, Shropshire (OS grid ref SJ6500).
    7. countableuncountableA hamlet in Charlton Musgrove parish, Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST7232).
    8. countableuncountableA hamlet in North Wootton parish, Somerset, previously in Mendip district (OS grid ref ST5541).
    9. countableuncountableA hamlet in Wentworth parish, Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire (OS grid ref SK3798).
    10. countableuncountableA village and civil parish (served by Barrow cum Denham Parish Council) in West Suffolk district, Suffolk, previously in St Edmundsbury district (OS grid ref TL7663).
  5. countableuncountableA river in eastern Ireland, which flows from County Laois, via County Kildare, County Kilkenny, County Carlow, County Wexford and County Waterford to Waterford Harbour.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.

Similar
See burial mound § Synonyms

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe quantity that a barrow will hold

Similar
barrowful
Broader
containerful

noun(archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

Similar
burial moundgrave moundtumulus
Broader
moundhill

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

Similar
garden cartlawn cartwheelbarrow
Broader
handcartpushcartcart
Also see
barrowfulbarrow-hogbarrow pigburial moundmountainpoint barrowtumuluswheelbarrow

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

barrow · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰerǵʰ-“to rise up, ascend; to be elevated, up high”
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰérǵʰos“hill”
  3. Proto-Germanic*bergaz“hill, mountain”
  4. Proto-West Germanic*berg
  5. Old Englishbeorg“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”
  6. Middle Englishberwe
  7. Englishbarrow

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg (“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”), from Proto-West Germanic *berg, from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (“hill, mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos (“hill”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise up, ascend; to be elevated, up high”). Doublet of berg and bergh. Cognates Cognate with Scots burrow (“mound, tumulus, barrow”), North Frisian Bārig, beerch, beeri, beerj, berag, berig, berri, bärj (“mountain”), Saterland Frisian Bierich, Bíerig, Bäirch (“mountain”), West Frisian berch (“mountain”), Cimbrian pèrge (“mountain”), Dutch berg (“mountain”), German Berg (“mountain”), German Low German Barg (“mountain”), Limburgish berg, Bärrech (“hill, mountain”), Luxembourgish Bierg (“mountain”), Mòcheno pèrg (“mountain”), Yiddish באַרג (barg, “mountain”), Danish bjerg (“mountain”), Elfdalian bjärr (“hill, mountain”), Faroese berg, bjarg (“cliff”), bjørg (“cliffs”), Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish berg (“mountain”); also Northern Luri برگ (berg, “mountain”), Polish brzeg (“bank, shore”), Russian бе́рег (béreg, “bank, shore”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

barrow · noun

  1. Proto-Germanic*barwǭ
  2. Proto-West Germanic*barwā
  3. Old Englishbearwe“basket, handbarrow”
  4. Middle Englishbarowe
  5. Englishbarrow

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.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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barrow · noun

  1. Proto-Germanic*barugaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*barug
  3. Old Englishbearg
  4. Middle Englishbarow
  5. Englishbarrow

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.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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barrow · noun

  1. Old Englishbeorgan“to protect”
  2. Middle Englishberwen“to protect”
  3. Middle English*berwe
  4. Englishbarrow

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”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Barrow · proper noun

  1. Old Norseey“island”
  2. Old Englishbearu“grove”
  3. EnglishBarrow

English surname, from placenames derived from Old English bearu (“grove”). The place in Furness is of Celtic origin, from *barros (“promontory, peak”) + Old Norse ey (“island”). The place in Alaska, now known as Utqiagvik, was named after nearby Point Barrow (Nuvuk). In 1826, Point Barrow was named after Sir John Barrow, a British geographer.

More words from Old English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian гробна могила, ръчна количка
  • гробна могила (grobna mogila)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • ръчна количка (răčna količka)small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • шопар (šopar)castrated boar
Catalan túmul
  • túmulmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Chinese Mandarin 墳塚 /坟冢, 古墓
  • 墳塚 /坟冢 (fénzhǒng)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • 古墓 (gǔmù)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • 阉公猪castrated boar
  • 巴羅 /巴罗 (Bāluó)City in Alaska
Czech mohyla, ruční vozík
  • mohylamound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • ruční vozíksmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • vepřcastrated boar
Danish gravhøj, kæmpehøj
  • gravhøjmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • kæmpehøjmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • stendyssemound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • dyssemound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • trillebørsmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • trækvognsmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • galtcastrated boar
Dutch grafheuvel, tumulus
  • grafheuvelmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • tumulusmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • grafterpmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • karsmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • steekkarsmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • duwkarsmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • kruiwagensmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • bargcastrated boar
Esperanto tumulo
  • tumulomound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Finnish hautakumpu, kärry
  • hautakumpumound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • kärrysmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • leikkocastrated boar
  • kaltticastrated boar
French tumulus, brouette
  • tumulusmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • brouettesmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • castratcastrated boar
German Grabhügel, Karren
  • Grabhügelmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • Karrensmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • Karresmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • Borgcastrated boar
Hungarian talicska, ártány
  • talicskasmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • ártánycastrated boar
Indonesian kubur prasejarah
  • kubur prasejarahmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Irish créthulach adhlactha, barra adhlactha
  • créthulach adhlacthamound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • barra adhlacthamound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • barasmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • borracastrated boar
  • an BhearúRiver in Ireland
Italian tumulo, carretto
  • tumulomound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • carrettosmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
Korean 봉분
  • 봉분 (bongbun)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Latin tumulus
  • tumulusmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Lithuanian par̃šas
  • par̃šascastrated boar
Malay monggok
  • monggokmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
Norwegian Bokmål galte
  • galtecastrated boar
Polish kurhan, kopiec
  • kurhanmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • kopiecmound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • taczkasmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • taczkismall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • kastrowany wieprzcastrated boar
Portuguese túmulo, anta
  • túmulomound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • antamound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • carrinho de mãosmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
Romanian mascur
  • mascurcastrated boar
Russian курга́н, моги́льный холм
  • курга́н (kurgán)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • моги́льный холм (mogílʹnyj xolm)mound of earth and stones raised over a grave
  • та́чка (táčka)small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • боров (borov)castrated boar
Slovak brav
  • bravcastrated boar
Spanish carretilla, carrucha
  • carretillasmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand
  • carruchasmall vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with barrow

narrowarrowtarotmarrowsparrowharrowarotaroyarrowfarrowGaro
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

barrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrow

MLA

“barrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrow. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barrow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrow.

Source: barrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.