Meaning

noun an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect

noun the pointed part of barbed wire

noun a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove

originPIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0