Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Barker

Bark′er

,
Noun.
1.
An animal that barks; hence, any one who clamors unreasonably.
2.
One who stands at the doors of shops to urg[GREEK] passers by to make purchases.
[Cant, Eng.]
3.
A pistol.
[Slang]
Dickens.
4.
(Zool.)
The spotted redshank.

Bark′er

,
Noun.
One who strips trees of their bark.

Webster 1828 Edition


Barker

B'ARKER

,
Noun.
One who barks, or clamors unreasonably; one who strips trees of their bark.

Definition 2024


Barker

Barker

See also: barker

Translingual

Proper noun

Barker

  1. A botanical plant name author abbreviation for botanist George Barker (1776-1845).

English

Proper noun

Barker

  1. A surname.

barker

barker

See also: Barker

English

Noun

barker (plural barkers)

  1. Someone or something who barks.
    My neighbor's dog is a constant barker that keeps me awake at night.
  2. A person employed to solicit customers by calling out to passersby, e.g. at a carnival.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
    Bob had amassed a considerable stockpile of double entendres from his days working as a barker for a strip joint.
  3. A shelf-talker.
  4. (video games) A video game mode where the action is demonstrated to entice someone to play the game.
    The barker mode of the arcade video game convinced the teenager to spend a quarter.
  5. (slang, dated) A pistol.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Charles Dickens to this entry?)
    1969 November 14, George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman, page 45:
    ...Parkin, the Oxford Street gunmaker, sent me a brace of barkers in silver mountings, with my initials engraved—good for trade, I imagine.
  6. The spotted redshank.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

From bark (surface of tree) + -er (forming agent nouns).

Noun

barker (plural barkers)

  1. (historical) A person who removes needed or valuable tree bark, as on a cinnamon or cinchona plantation.
    The professor of barker has been made largely obsolete by the realization that in most cases saplings can be cultivated far more profitably.
  2. (obsolete) A tanner.
    The profession of barker has been made largely obsolete by the introduction of more effective tanning agents, but it lives on as a surname.
  3. A machine used to remove unneeded bark from wood.
    Run these logs through the barker so we can use them as fence posts.
Translations

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

barker m

  1. indefinite plural of bark