a relatively long, evenly shaped piece of some solid substance, as metal or wood, used as a guard or obstruction or for some mechanical purpose: the bars of a cage.
2.
an oblong piece of any solid material: a bar of soap; a candy bar.
3.
the amount of material in a bar.
4.
an ingot, lump, or wedge of gold or silver.
5.
a long ridge of sand, gravel, or other material near or slightly above the surface of the water at or near the mouth of a river or harbor entrance, often constituting an obstruction to navigation.
6.
anything that obstructs, hinders, or impedes; obstacle; barrier: a bar to important legislation.
7.
a counter or place where beverages, esp. liquors, or light meals are served to customers: a snack bar; a milk bar.
8.
a barroom or tavern.
9.
(in a home) a counter, small wagon, or similar piece of furniture for serving food or beverages: a breakfast bar.
10.
the legal profession.
11.
the practicing members of the legal profession in a given community.
12.
any tribunal: the bar of public opinion.
13.
a band or strip: a bar of light.
14.
a railing in a courtroom separating the general public from the part of the room occupied by the judges, jury, attorneys, etc.
15.
a crowbar.
16.
Music.
a.
Also called bar line.the line marking the division between two measures of music.
Heraldry. a horizontal band, narrower than a fess, that crosses the field of an escutcheon.
28.
Obsolete. a gateway capable of being barred.
–verb (used with object)
29.
to equip or fasten with a bar or bars: Bar the door before retiring for the night.
30.
to block by or as if by bars: The police barred the exits in an attempt to prevent the thief's escape.
31.
to prevent or hinder: They barred her entrance to the club.
32.
to exclude or except: He was barred from membership because of his reputation.
33.
to mark with bars, stripes, or bands.
–preposition
34.
except; omitting; but: bar none.
—Idioms
35.
at bar, Law.
a.
before the court and being tried: a case at bar.
b.
before all the judges of a court: a trial at bar.
36.
behind bars, in jail: We wanted the criminal behind bars.
Origin: 1175–1225; ME barre < OF < VL *barra rod, of obscure, perh. of pre-L orig.
Related forms:
barless, adjective
bar⋅ra⋅ble, adjective
Synonyms: 1.rod, pole. 5.shoal, reef, bank, sand bar. 6.deterrent, stop. Bar,barrier,barricade mean something put in the way of advance. Bar has the general meaning of hindrance or obstruction: a bar across the doorway. Barrier suggests an impediment to progress or a defensive obstruction (natural or artificial): a trade barrier; a mountain barrier; a road barrier. A barricade is esp. a pile of articles hastily gathered or a rude earthwork for protection in street fighting: a barricade of wooden boxes. 7.saloon, café; cocktail lounge. 30, 31.obstruct, deter, impede, barricade. 32.eliminate.
"whole body of lawyers, the legal profession," 1559, a sense which derives ultimately from the railing that separated benchers from the hall in the Inns of Court. Students who had attained a certain standing were "called" to it to take part in the important exercises of the house. After c.1600, however, this was popularly assumed to mean the bar in a courtroom, which was the wooden railing marking off the area around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood for arraignment and where a barrister (q.v.) stood to plead. As the place where the business of court was done, bar in this sense had become synonymous with "court" by c.1330.
Main Entry: bar Function: transitive verb Inflected Forms: barred; bar·ring 1: to keep out :EXCLUDEbar the items from sale> 2: to prevent from doing or accomplishing (something) bar her recovery> bars his reinstatement> 3:PRECLUDE: as a: to act as a bar to (as a claim or action) bars actions —Louisiana Civil Code> barred the subsequent claim> b: to prevent (a party) from bringing a claim or action barred by the judgment…from relitigating their claims —Roach v. Teamsters Local Union Number 688, 595 Federal Reporter, Second Series 446 (1979)> —see also ESTOP —compare MERGE 2 —bar·ra·bleadjective
A unit used to measure atmospheric pressure. It is equal to a force of 100,000 newtons per square meter of surface area, or 0.987 atmosphere.
An elongated, offshore ridge of sand, gravel, or other unconsolidated sediment, formed by the action of waves or long-shore currents and submerged at least during high tide. Bars are especially common near the mouths of rivers or estuaries.
A ridgelike mound of sand, gravel or silt formed within a stream, along its banks, or at its mouth. Bars form where the stream's current slows down, causing sediment to be deposited.
[bahr-ing] 
