(bärb) noun
1. A backward-projecting point on a sharp weapon, as on an arrow, fish hook, or spear, intended to prevent easy extraction.
2. Any similar sharp point: the barbs on a barbed-wire fence.
3. Bot. A beard, as in certain grains and grasses; awn.
4. Ornithol. One of the lateral processes of a bird's feather. See illustration under FEATHER.
5. A band or scarf worn about the neck and covering the breast: the barb of a nun.
6. plural Paps or folds of the mucous membrane under the tongue of cattle and horses.
7. plural The disease characterized by their inflammation.
8. Obs. A beard.
—v.t. To provide with a barb or barbs: to barb an arrow. [<F barbe <L barba beard]

(bärb) noun
1. A horse of the breed introduced by the Moors from Barbary into Spain: noted for speed and endurance.
2. A blackish or dun pigeon with a short stout beak. [<F barbe <Barbarie, ult. <Arabic Barbar native of N. Africa]