barb

«barb» in Mova's judaism dictionary: a sharp point that sticks out backwards from the tip of a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a barb, barbs); verb (barb, barbs, barbed — mostly as «barbed»)

meaning for a pupil

1) A barb is a sharp point that sticks out backwards from the tip of a fish hook, arrow or wire, so it is hard to pull out. tree →

2) A barb is an unkind remark meant to hurt someone. tree →

3) In biology, barbs are the thin side threads on a feather, and the sharp backward hooks on a bee's sting. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons a honeybee's sting has barbs, so it gets stuck in skin; feathers are made of a shaft with barbs. In safety, barbed wire on farm fences can cut you, so climb over at a gate. In stories and friendships, a barb is a mean comment. Phrases: «barbed wire», «a fish-hook barb», «a sharp barb».

examples

• The fish hook has a barb so the fish can't slip off. tree →
• The bee's sting has tiny barbs. tree →
• Barbed wire runs along the top of the fence. tree →
• Her barb about my hair really hurt. tree →
• Each feather has hundreds of tiny barbs. tree →
• Be careful — the barbs on the wire are sharp. tree →
• The arrowhead had a barb at the back. tree →
• He ignored the barbs from the other team. tree →

note

Countable: a barb, barbs. Adjective: barbed (barbed wire, a barbed comment). Not the same as «Barb» (a name, short for Barbara) or «barber» (a person who cuts hair). Safety: don't pull a barbed hook out of skin yourself — get an adult.

In the corpora

• Most American tarantulas flick itchy barbed hairs at enemies, and female tarantulas can live 20 to 30 years.
• Honeybees die after stinging people because the barbed stinger sticks in skin and tears out, but not when stinging other insects.
• A honeybee's barbed sting gets stuck in the stretchy skin of mammals, but not in the hard bodies of other insects.
• A honeybee's sting is barbed and gets stuck in skin, so a honeybee usually dies after stinging a person.
• A honeybee's sting is barbed and gets stuck in skin, so the bee usually dies after stinging a person.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «barb» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.