Barbecue or barbeque (common spelling variant) (with abbreviations BBQ, Bar-B-Q and Barbie), used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia (called Braai in South Africa) is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of charcoal or Liquefied petroleum gas.

The term as a noun can refer to the meat, the cooking apparatus itself (the "Barbecue grill" or simply "Barbecue") or to a party that includes such food or such preparation methods. The term as an adjective can refer to foods cooked by this method. The term is also used as a verb for the act of cooking food in this manner.

Barbecue is usually done in an outdoor environment by cooking and smoking the meat over wood or charcoal. Restaurant barbecue may be cooked in large brick or metal ovens specially designed for that purpose.

Barbecue has numerous regional variations in many parts of the world.