barrow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small handcart used for carrying loads

   The gardener pushed a barrow full of soil across the yard.

2. 2
   noun

   a mound of earth or stones raised over an ancient grave

   The archaeologists surveyed a Bronze Age barrow on the hill.

3. 3
   noun

   the amount that a barrow can hold

   They moved several barrows of gravel before noon.

From Old English beorg, "hill, mound, burial place," from a Germanic root for a raised place. The handcart sense later developed by association with carrying loads, while the older archaeological sense keeps the mound idea.

Topics