barber

Etymology

PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbour, from Anglo-Norman barbour, from Old French barbeor, from barbe (“beard”), from Latin barba.

noun

1. A person whose profession is cutting (usually male) customers' hair and beards.
   There's also a barber's shop and that staple of railway stations up and down the UK - a WH Smith. January 12 2022, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27
2. A barber surgeon, a foot soldier specializing in treating battlefield injuries.
3. (Canada) A storm accompanied by driving ice spicules formed from sea water, especially one occurring on the Gulf of St. Lawrence; so named from the cutting ice spicules.

verb

1. To cut the hair or beard of (a person).
2. (US, slang) To chatter, talk.
   ‘I shouldn't ought to barber with you. But when I like a guy, the ceiling's the limit.’ 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 29