barricade
Americannoun
-
a defensive barrier hastily constructed, as in a street, to stop an enemy.
-
any barrier that obstructs passage.
verb (used with object)
-
to obstruct or block with a barricade.
barricading the streets to prevent an attack.
-
to shut in and defend with or as if with a barricade.
The rebels had barricaded themselves in the old city.
- Synonyms:
- fortify
noun
verb
-
to erect a barricade across (an entrance, passageway, etc) or at points of access to (a room, district of a town, etc)
they barricaded the door
-
(usually passive) to obstruct; block
his mind was barricaded against new ideas
Synonym Usage
See bar 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
barricadesimple
-
barricadessimple
-
have barricadedperfect
-
has barricadedperfect
-
am barricadingprogressive
-
are barricadingprogressive
-
is barricadingprogressive
-
have been barricadingperfect progressive
-
has been barricadingperfect progressive
Past
-
barricadedsimple
-
had barricadedperfect
-
was barricadingprogressive
-
were barricadingprogressive
-
had been barricadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barricade
1585–95; < French, equivalent to barrique barrel (< Gascon ) + -ade -ade 1; early barricades in Paris were often composed of barrels
Explanation
A barricade is anything that prevents people or vehicles from getting through. Construction workers often barricade a street to block traffic. You know how barriers block things from getting through? A barricade is similar. Soldiers create barricades to keep enemy troops out. Police officers put up barricades around a crime scene. If an electrical wire becomes loose and dangerous, a barricade around the area will keep people from getting hurt. This can also be a verb, like when parents barricade part of their house to keep toddlers from getting into trouble. Barricading is a physical way of saying "Keep out!"
Vocabulary lists containing barricade
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 7
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In July 2024, Rinderknecht demanded the chatbot generate an image that showed wealthy elites dining extravagantly on one side of a wall while the world burned beyond the barricade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Some also attempted to erect a barricade with rental bikes which was cleared by police.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
About 220 yards from the finish line, the 5-foot-5 Lightning slammed into a barricade and collapsed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Its chief executive, Kevin McPartlin, told RTÉ that the number could be five times that by Friday night, adding that 50% of the country's new supply was being kept behind barricade lines.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Suspicion mottled Ralph’s face; he crossed his arms in front of him, a barricade.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
Secrecy surrounding the event is so tight that the reported venue has been cordoned off with privacy tents, tarps and barricades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Overshadowing the days before the tournament are thousands of protesting teachers, who have blockaded highways and led the government to cordon off the historic Zocalo square with metal barricades.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Almost every resident carries a private atlas of vanished places: Regal Cinema, the old Coffee House, Urdu bookshops in Daryaganj, winter evenings at India Gate before barricades and security cordons reshaped the city.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
But New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani dragged his feet on implementing it, and at least as we write this hadn’t denounced the protest that included a charge against the police barricades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Max and I are shoulder to shoulder, making our way behind the barricades.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Subway exits were also barricaded and mobile internet was jammed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
A powerful 1996 law called Section 230 has long barricaded internet platforms against most civil liability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026
Ahead of the Lyon rally, some residents living near the march's planned route had barricaded the ground floor windows of their apartments, fearing unrest.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
"We got tables and barricaded the doors" for over two hours, Darian said, until police arrived to escort them out of the school.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
This is what happens: A hovercraft marked with the Capitol’s seal materializes directly over the barricaded children.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
On Monday, authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and imposed restrictions on public movement by barricading many arterial roads.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
When officers arrived, they detained one suspect immediately, but the second suspect was inside the manhole and refused to come out, barricading himself, said Officer Tony Im, a spokesperson for the Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
After his late-night speech announcing the decree, opposition MPs and protesters converged on the National Assembly, but were met by police and military personnel barricading the building.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024
In 2014, mini-storms of tumbleweeds swamped the drought-stricken prairie of southern Colorado, blocking rural roads and irrigation canals, and briefly barricading homes and an elementary school.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
“Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school—Snape’s run for it—What are you doing here? How did you know?”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.