BARBEL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Barbel

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

Listen

noun

Barbel n.

(Zool.) A slender tactile organ on the lips of certain fishes.

(Zool.) A large fresh-water fish (Barbus vulgaris) found in many European rivers. Its upper jaw is furnished with four barbels.

pl. Barbs or paps under the tongues of horses and cattle. See 1st Barb, 3.

See images of 'Barbel'

Etymology of 'Barbel'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Barbel" Quotes from Famous Books

... but must say I could never appreciate this so-called delicacy. The bones are of a very glutinous nature, and can be easily masticated, while the taste of a sterlet is something between that of a barbel and a perch, the muddy flavour of the former predominating. However, they are an expensive luxury, as, to be perfection for the table, they should be taken out of the water alive and put at once into the cooking-pot. The distance ...

— Russia - As Seen and Described by Famous Writers • Various

... fowl. The landlord is a quiet enthusiast in this Thames fishing. It is a pleasure to watch him at work, whether being rowed down on a hot summer day by one of his men, and casting a long line under the willows for chub, or hauling out big perch or barbel. All his tackle is exquisitely kept, as well kept as the yeoman's arrows and bow in the Canterbury Tales. His baits are arranged on the hook as neatly as a good cook sends up a boned quail. He gets all his worms from Nottingham. I notice ...

— The Naturalist on the Thames • C. J. Cornish

Words linked to "Barbel" : tentacle, feeler