double-barrelled

Adjective

double-barrelled (not comparable)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see double, barrelled. Having two barrels, as a gun.
2. Twofold, having a double purpose or nature.
   • Alexander Taylor, a native of Stonehaven who in the later forties went to Edinburgh, where he enjoyed a double-barrelled reputation as a rhymester and as an astronomer.1972, Alexander Keith, A thousand years of Aberdeen
   • Order-maintenance crackdowns are not an alternative but rather an addition to the severe penalties that dominate criminal justice […] What we are left with today is a system of severe punishments for major offenders and severe treatments for minor offenders and ordinary citizens, especially...2001, Bernard E. Harcourt, Illusion of Order
3. Having two separate parts, often adjoined by a hyphen (or sometimes a space).
   • Almost unbelievably, some authors have formed the erroneous conception that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is actually the double-barrelled surname of the dictionary’s editor.2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 488

   Synonyms:

   hyphenated

4. (figuratively) Forceful, powerful (like a double-barrelled shotgun).
   • When the sheriff arrested [Lucy Hicks Anderson] one night, her double-barrelled reputation paid off—Charles Donlon, the town's leading banker, promptly bailed her out. Reason: He had scheduled a huge dinner party, which would have collapsed dismally with Lucy In gaol.1945 November 6, “She trafficked in sin and souffle”, in Townsville Daily Bulletin, Queensland, Australia
   • Range Rover ran an ad campaign referring to grouse shooting with the line: “There’s only one car for the double-barrelled.”2023 November 5, Andrew Anthony, “Monsters of the road: what should the UK do about SUVs?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN