Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An instrument for removing the bark of oak and other trees, for use in tanning.
  • noun A pistol. Marryat.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Pulled out his barking-iron to send daylight through his brain; [10]

    Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896] John S. Farmer

  • "Now, my feller prig, honor's what I expect from you, and, to remind you of it, Levin, I'm a-goin 'to pint this barking-iron at your mummer, so that if you patter a cackle, a blue plum will go right down your throat."

    The Entailed Hat Or, Patty Cannon's Times George Alfred Townsend 1877

  • Here, "said he, dealing Rust a heavy thump upon the shoulder with the butt-end of the piece," take back your snapper, and look you prick the touchhole, or your barking-iron will never bite for you.

    Rookwood William Harrison Ainsworth 1843

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