Barnburner

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barnburner \Barn"burn`er\, n. [So called in allusion to the
     fable of the man who burned his barn in order to rid it of
     rats.]
     1. A member of the radical section of the Democratic party in
        New York, about the middle of the 19th century, which was
        hostile to extension of slavery, public debts, corporate


        privileges, etc., and supported Van Buren against Cass for
        president in 1848; -- opposed to {Hunker}. [Political
        Cant, U. S.]
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. an impressively successful or unusually good event.
        [informal] "The rock concert was a real barnburner."
        [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  barnburner
       n 1: someone who burns down a barn
       2: a impressively successful event; "the rock concert was a
          real barnburner"