🪝 To add sharp points 🪝 A sharp point 💬 A hurtful remark 🪶 A feather strand

barb

4 7.9

One of the thin parts along a feather's central shaft that hook together to make a smooth surface

noun
/bɑrb/

Specialized

: barba

Large barbs on her hind legs turn a female cicada killer into a soil-moving machine.
feather barb

Examples

If you try to push your way through it, you will find yourself cut or snagged on the barbs so that you can't move—the thorns are like fishhooks; they go in easy but are hard to take out.

Fiction book (1991)
The beautiful feathers of the peacock are made up of many colorful barbs that interlock to create a stunning display.
The woman swept an arm to where he was looking, gesturing toward two keen barbs on a distant edge of the horizon.

Fiction book (1997)
He pointed to some nasty-looking bare barbs.

Fiction book (2002)
Small barbs attached to the transmitter assisted in lodging and retaining it in the gut of the fish (Fig. 1).

Academic text (1992)
Its parts are: 1. Vane 2. Rachis 3. Barbs (connected by barbules and hooks) 4. Afterfeather 5. Calamus.

Blog text (15)
A bird's barbs help to maintain its aerodynamic shape, allowing it to fly more efficiently.
The artist used a feather with delicate barbs to create intricate patterns on the canvas.

Surface Forms

barb singular

barbs plural

Etymology

Barb for a part of a feather also comes from the old Latin barba meaning 'beard', because the thin, hair-like pieces of a feather look like a tiny beard. That's why each barb is a slender filament that helps form the feather's surface.