You might have a barney with your husband over his inability to find your jokes funny but actually resorting to punching, kicking or lifting a weapon is beyond me. Elaine C. Smith, Sunday Mail, 31 July 2005
She accused him of knocking her front teeth out in a barney, while admitting that more often than not she initiated the punch-ups. David Bennun, The Guardian (London), 17 Sept. 1999
b
: a boisterous good time
2
: a small car attached to a cable used to push cars up a slope in a mine