barb

Length / number of characters: 4
Number of words: 1

an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
the pointed part of barbed wire
a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove
one of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather
provide with barbs
Beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it
A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners
Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen
The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else
A bit for a horse
One of the side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane
A southern name for the kingfishes of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States
A hair or bristle ending in a double hook
To shave or dress the beard of
To clip
To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc
The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors
A blackish or dun variety of the pigeon, originally brought from Barbary
Armor for a horse. Same as 2d Bard, n., 1

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