This special form of harpoon has barbs, which expand as soon as they have entered the body of the animal and he pulls upon the line, stopping at a certain angle, and rendering the withdrawal of the weapon impossible.
"Due North or Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia"
Maturin M. Ballou
For what his thousand hunters with their poisoned barbs and cruel traps could never do, with your kind heart you have accomplished, Peasant.
"The Green Forest Fairy Book"
Loretta Ellen Brady
Here, as they drew close, they came to a dead halt against a broad belt of wire uncut by our gun-fire, and hideously tangled in coils with sharp barbs.
"From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917"
Philip Gibbs