DAILY VOCABULARY WITH PICTURES. barrel

• bar‧rel [countable]
• 1 a large curved container with a flat top and bottom, made of wood or metal, and used for storing beer, wine etc:
• The wine is aged in oak barrels.
• barrel of
• barrels of beer
• 2 a unit of measurement for oil, equal to 159 litres
• barrel of
• two million barrels of oil
• 3 the part of a gun that the bullets are fired through
• 4

  have somebody over a barrel

   to put someone in a situation in which they are forced to accept or do what you want:
• The manager had us over a barrel - either we work on a Saturday or we lose our jobs.
• 5

  be a barrel of laughs

  [often in negatives] to be very enjoyable:
•  Life is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.
• ➔ pork barrel

  ; ➔ scrape (the bottom of) the barrel

  at scrape1(5)

  ; ➔ lock, stock, and barrel

  at lock2 (3)
• 
• Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 
• Advanced Learner's Dictionary.