noun
barbershop
noun
1
A shop where people go to get their hair cut.
"There's a new barbershop that just opened downtown."
2
A style of unaccompanied vocal music sung in close four-part harmony.
"The quartet performed a barbershop version of an old jazz standard."
How to Use Barbershop
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishUsually a place for haircuts, but also the name of a distinctive style of a cappella four-part harmony singing.
Common pairings
barbershop quartet
barbershop harmony
Word Forms
barbershopped past tense, barbershops plural, barbershops singular
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Etymology
A straightforward compound of barber and shop.