pickle barrel
- noun
- After a long day of work, they sat down beside the old pickle barrel to enjoy some homemade pickles.
Examples
-
With his feet lazily soaking in the pickle barrel, Silas happened to peer off in the direction of the approaching buckboard.
Fiction book (1996) -
She carefully opened the lid of the pickle barrel to check if the vegetables had fermented properly.
-
I think I would have been one of those people sitting around the pickle barrel, telling tall tales in the old days.
Blog text (32) -
VAL: Right in the pickle barrel.
-
Silas almost fell out of the pickle barrel.
Fiction book (1996) -
Wouldn't even allow him around the pickle barrel.
Fiction book (1996) -
The shop had a big pickle barrel filled with fresh cucumbers ready for pickling.
Synonyms
A large round container made of wood or metal that holds liquids such as wine and oil
A large round container that holds beer for keeping or moving
A very large wooden barrel used to store liquids like wine
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is fully compositional: 'pickle' (preserved vegetable) + 'barrel' (large container) straightforwardly yields a barrel used for pickling. This literal noun–noun construction follows common English compounding patterns (and similar patterns in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun pickle barrel comes from old markets and homes where a big wooden barrel was filled with vinegar and cucumbers to make pickles, so people would reach into the barrel for a sour snack. That's why it means 'a large wooden barrel used to hold pickled vegetables'.