barge

[bahrj] /bɑrdʒ/
noun
1.
a capacious, flat-bottomed vessel, usually intended to be pushed or towed, for transporting freight or passengers; lighter.
2.
a vessel of state used in pageants:
elegantly decorated barges on the Grand Canal in Venice.
3.
Navy. a boat reserved for a flag officer.
4.
a boat that is heavier and wider than a shell, often used in racing as a training boat.
5.
New England (chiefly Older Use) . a large, horse-drawn coach or, sometimes, a bus.
verb (used without object), barged, barging.
6.
to move clumsily; bump into things; collide:
to barge through a crowd.
7.
to move in the slow, heavy manner of a barge.
verb (used with object), barged, barging.
8.
to carry or transport by barge:
Coal and ore had been barged down the Ohio to the Mississippi.
Verb phrases
9.
barge in, to intrude, especially rudely:
I hated to barge in without an invitation.
10.
barge into,
  1. Also, barge in on. to force oneself upon, especially rudely; interfere in:
    to barge into a conversation.
  2. to bump into; collide with:
    He started to run away and barged into a passer-by.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Middle French, perhaps < Latin *bārica; see bark3
Can be confused
barge, boat, canoe, cruise ship, sailboat, ship, yacht.
Examples from the web for barge
  • Advertisers, by and large, will not touch user-generated content with a barge pole.
  • Entering a docked barge on a splendid summer afternoon, one might expect to encounter performances more agreeable than intense.
  • The salvagers claim the posse wanted to extract money because the barge was in their waters.
  • Luckily, our captain knows the barge pilot and arranges to borrow a spark plug.
  • Two axes lie on the deck at the bow where they were dropped after the crew cut away a barge in tow.
  • It took the loads from dozens of wagons and put them on a barge that could be pulled by a single mule or maybe two.
  • The sun rose over the horizon, casting a warm glow over the barge.
  • Lounging around on a barge, being waited on hand and foot.
  • Made of limestone rock poured from a barge, the reef will attract oysters and shield the marsh edge from violent waves.
  • And they are surprisingly uniform, given that they begin as natural rubber and wool, which vary with every barge and bale.
British Dictionary definitions for barge

barge

/bɑːdʒ/
noun
1.
a vessel, usually flat-bottomed and with or without its own power, used for transporting freight, esp on canals
2.
a vessel, often decorated, used in pageants, for state occasions, etc
3.
(navy) a boat allocated to a flag officer, used esp for ceremonial occasions and often carried on board his flagship
4.
(jocular, derogatory) any vessel, esp an old or clumsy one
5.
(Austral, informal) a heavy or cumbersome surfboard
verb
6.
(informal) (intransitive) foll by into. to bump (into)
7.
(transitive) (informal) to push (someone or one's way) violently
8.
(intransitive; foll by into or in) (informal) to interrupt rudely or clumsily: to barge into a conversation
9.
(transitive) (sailing) to bear down on (another boat or boats) at the start of a race
10.
(transitive) to transport by barge
11.
(intransitive) (informal) to move slowly or clumsily
Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin barga, probably from Late Latin barca a small boat; see barque
Word Origin and History for barge
n.

c.1300, "small seagoing vessel with sails," from Old French barge, Old Provençal barca, from Medieval Latin barga, perhaps from Celtic, or perhaps from Latin *barica, from Greek baris "Egyptian boat," from Coptic bari "small boat." Meaning "flat-bottomed freight boat" dates from late 15c.

v.

"to journey by barge," 1590s, from barge (n.). The form barge into and the sense "crash heavily into," in reference to the rough handling of barges, dates from 1830s, American English. Related: Barged; barging.