an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect; his parting shot was `drop dead; she threw shafts of sarcasm; she takes a dig at me every chance she gets
the pointed part of barbed wire
a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove
one of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather
barb (n.)
provide with barbs; barbed wire'