bar
Other forms: bars; barred; barring
If you bar a college student from entering a bar because he's too young to drink, it means that you prevent him from going into an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages.
Bar is one of those handy words with many different meanings. There's the kind of bar where you order coffee or a drink. There is also the bar that a bartender keeps close at hand in case she needs a weapon when patrons get rowdy — like a long piece of metal. And when you bar something, you make it inaccessible in some way. The word bar comes from the French word barre, which means "beam, gate, or barrier."
Definitions of bar
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a rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon“there were bars in the windows to prevent escape”types:belaying pina wood or metal bar to which a rope can be secured (as on a ship or in mountain climbing)bolta sliding bar in a breech-loading firearm that ejects an empty cartridge and replaces it and closes the breechcarpenter's levela straight bar of light metal with a spirit level in itchinning bara horizontal bar on which you can chin yourselfcorea bar of magnetic material (as soft iron) that passes through a coil and serves to increase the inductance of the coilcrossbara horizontal bar that goes across somethingdrawbara strong metal bar bearing a hook to attach something to be pulledfreta small bar of metal across the fingerboard of a musical instrument; when the string is stopped by a finger at the metal bar it will produce a note of the desired pitchgrab bara bar attached parallel to a wall to provide a handgrip for steadying yourselfhandlebarthe shaped bar used to steer a bicyclehandspikea metal bar (or length of pipe) used as a leverheavera bar used as a lever (as in twisting rope)levera rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrumraila horizontal bar (usually of wood or metal)rotorthe revolving bar of a distributorshacklea U-shaped bar; the open end can be passed through chain links and closed with a barslice bariron bar used to loosen and rake clinkers out of furnacesanti-sway bar, stabilizer bara rigid metal bar between the front suspensions and between the rear suspensions of cars and trucks; serves to stabilize the chassisrail, rails, runway, tracka bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can rollcompound levera pair of levers hinged at the fulcrumdoubletreea crossbar on a wagon or carriage to which two whiffletrees are attached in order to harness two horses abreasthand throttlea hand-operated lever that controls the throttle valvehitching bar, hitchracka fixed horizontal rail to which a horse can be hitched to prevent it from strayingkeya lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressedledger boardtop rail of a fence or balustradepicture railrail fixed to a wall for hanging picturespinch bara lever with a pointed projection that serves as a fulcrum; used to roll heavy wheelsplate railrail or narrow shelf fixed to a wall to display platesplumb levela carpenter's level with a plumb line at right angles to itripping bara steel lever with one end formed into a ripping chisel and the other a gooseneck with a claw for pulling nailsrocker arm, valve rockera lever pivoted at the center; used especially to push a valve down in an internal-combustion enginespark lever(on early automobiles) a lever mounted on the steering column and used to adjust the timing of the ignitioncontrol stick, joystick, sticka lever used by a pilot to control the ailerons and elevators of an airplanetappeta lever that is moved in order to tap something elsethird raila rail through which electric current is supplied to an electric locomotivetillerlever used to turn the rudder on a boattire iron, tire toolhand tool consisting of a lever that is used to force the casing of a pneumatic tire onto a steel wheelswingletree, whiffletree, whippletreea crossbar that is attached to the traces of a draft horse and to the vehicle or implement that the horse is pullingtype of:implementinstrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end
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a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
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a narrow marking of a different color or texture from the background“a green toad with small black stripes or bars”
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an obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal“it was an excellent kick but the ball hit the bar”type of:impediment, impedimenta, obstructer, obstruction, obstructorany structure that makes progress difficult
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a horizontal rod that serves as a support for gymnasts as they perform exercisestype of:supportany device that bears the weight of another thing
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a submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shore
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a heating element in an electric fire“an electric fire with three bars”type of:heating elementthe component of a heater or range that transforms fuel or electricity into heat
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secure with, or as if with, bars
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a counter where you can obtain food or drink“he bought a hot dog and a coke at the bar”types:cash bara counter at a large party where you can purchase drinks by the glassoyster bara bar (as in a restaurant) that specializes in oysters prepared in different wayssalad bara bar where diners can assemble a salad to their own tastesoda fountaina counter where ice cream and sodas and sundaes are prepared and servedsushi bara bar where sushi is servedwet bara bar for mixing drinks that has a sink with running waterwine bara bar that serves only winecommissarya snack bar in a film studiomilk barsnack bar that sells milk drinks and light refreshments (such as ice cream)type of:countertable consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted
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a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a countersynonyms: barroom, ginmill, saloon, taproom, watering holetypes:cocktail loungea barroom in a hotel or restaurant where cocktails are servedsawdust saloona saloon whose floor is covered with sawdustspeakeasy(during Prohibition) an illegal barroomtype of:rooman area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
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the act of preventing“there was no bar against leaving”synonyms: preventiontypes:avertingthe act of preventing something from occurringdebarmentthe act of prevention by legal meansdisqualificationthe act of preventing someone from participating by finding them unqualifiedinterceptionthe act of preventing a person or thing from proceeding or arrivingnon-proliferation, nonproliferationthe prevention of something increasing or spreading (especially the prevention of an increase in the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons)forestalling, obviation, preclusionthe act of preventing something by anticipating and disposing of it effectivelyprophylaxisthe prevention of diseasesave(sports) the act of preventing the opposition from scoringrecusal, recusation(law) the disqualification of a judge or jury by reason of prejudice or conflict of interest; a judge can be recused by objections of either party or judges can disqualify themselvescrackdowna severely repressive actiontype of:
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render unsuitable for passage
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expel, as if by official decree
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prevent from entering; keep out
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(meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter“unfortunately some writers have used bar for one dyne per square centimeter”type of:pressure unita unit measuring force per unit area
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musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats“the orchestra omitted the last twelve bars of the song”synonyms: measuretype of:musical notation(music) notation used by musicians
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the body of individuals qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction“he was admitted to the bar in New Jersey”synonyms: legal community, legal professiontype of:professionthe body of people in a learned occupation
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(law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is tried
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