bar

plural bars

1. countableuncountableA solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length.

   The window was protected by steel bars.

2. countableuncountableengineeringA solid metal object with uniform (round, square, hexagonal, octagonal or rectangular) cross-section; in the US its smallest dimension is ¹⁄₄ inch or greater, a piece of thinner material being called a strip.

   We are expecting a carload of bar tomorrow.

   1 more example

   Ancient Sparta used iron bars instead of handy coins in more valuable alloy, to physically discourage the use of money.

3. countableuncountableA cuboid piece of any solid commodity.

   bar of soap

   1 more example

   bar of chocolate

4. countableuncountableA broad shaft, band, or stripe.

   a bar of light

   1 more example

   a bar of colour

5. countableuncountableA long, narrow drawn or printed rectangle, cuboid or cylinder, especially as used in a bar code or a bar chart.
6. countableuncountablemediaAny of various lines used as punctuation or diacritics, such as the pipe ⟨|⟩, fraction bar (as in 12), and strikethrough (as in Ⱥ), formerly (obsolete) including oblique marks such as the slash.
7. countableuncountablemathematicsThe sign indicating that the characteristic of a logarithm is negative, conventionally placed above the digit(s) to show that it applies to the characteristic only and not to the mantissa.
8. countableuncountablenatural sciencesA similar sign indicating that the charge on a particle is the negative of its usual value (and that consequently the particle is in fact an antiparticle).
9. countableuncountableA business selling alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises, or the premises themselves; a public house.

   The street was lined with all-night bars.

   Synonyms: barroom, ginshop, pub, public house, tavern, alehouse, boozer, boozing ken

10. countableuncountableThe counter of such premises.

    Step up to the bar and order a drink.

11. countableuncountableA counter, or simply a cabinet, from which alcoholic drinks are served in a private house or a hotel room.
12. broadlycountablein compoundsuncountablePremises or a counter serving any type of beverage.

    a juice bar

    1 more example

    a coffee bar

13. countableuncountableAn informal establishment selling food to be consumed on the premises.

    a burger bar

    1 more example

    a local fish bar

14. countableuncountableAn establishment offering cosmetic services.

    a nail bar

    1 more example

    a brow bar

15. countableuncountableAn official order or pronouncement that prohibits some activity.

    The club has lifted its bar on women members.

    1 more example

    The Chief Medical Officer of London Transport believes that public opinion against smoking will harden to the point of a total bar on the Underground, as in other countries.

    1959 May 28, “Accommodation for Non-Smokers”, in Railway Magazine, pages 295-296

    Synonyms: ban, prohibition

16. countableuncountableAnything that obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.

    Muſt I new bars to my own joy create?

    1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, Act V, page 83

    2 more examples

    Sexual preference or orientation shall not be a bar to becoming a foster parent.

    1987 February 1, Nancy A. Coleman, “Foster Care: Case By Case Basis”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 28, page 5

    Mr Harding could look back on his initial judgement of Paul's talent with great satisfaction while Paul could reflect that to be Irish was not necessarily a bar to progress.

    2013, Terence Dillon, A Long Way Home, page 184

17. UKcountableuncountableParliamentA dividing line (physical or notional) in the chamber of a legislature beyond which only members and officials may pass.
18. UKcountableuncountablelawThe railing surrounding the part of a courtroom in which the judges, lawyers, defendants and witnesses stay.
19. PhilippinesUScountableuncountableusuallylawThe bar exam, the legal licensing exam.

    He's studying hard to pass the Bar this time; he's failed it twice before.

20. countablemetonymicallyuncountable"the Bar"; "the bar"; "the Bar"; "the bar"lawCollectively, lawyers or the legal profession; specifically applied to barristers in some countries, but including all lawyers in others.

    He was called to the bar.

    He became a barrister.

21. countableuncountablebusinessOne of an array of bar-shaped symbols that display the level of something, such as wireless signal strength or battery life remaining.

    I don't have any bars in the middle of this desert.

22. countableuncountableentertainmentA vertical line across a musical staff dividing written music into sections, typically of equal durational value.

    Synonyms: measure

23. One of those musical sections.
    1. countablein pluralslanguncountabledancingHip-hop lyrics, especially ones written and delivered skillfully.

       That rapper there, yeah, he got bars.

    2. broadlycountablein pluralslanguncountableentertainmentSomething well-said or well-written.

       His musical journey, and this is a quote, is “a constant push and pull between self awareness and delusion”. That’s bars right there to be honest.

       2025 June 13, “Matt Miggz: Drums, Delusion, and Staying True”, in WAVS BLOG

24. countableuncountablehobbiesA horizontal pole that must be crossed in the high jump and pole vault.
25. countablefigurativelyuncountableAny level of achievement regarded as a challenge to be overcome; a standard or expectation.

    to raise the bar

    2 more examples

    to set the bar high/low

    […] there’s no World War III now, but in the words of the prominent Never Trumper and Atlantic contributor Eliot Cohen, “that’s a pretty low bar.”

    2020 March 10, Kathy Gilsinan, quoting Eliot Cohen, “Confessions of an Ex–Never Trumper”, in The Atlantic

26. countableuncountablemost codesball gamesThe crossbar.

    Composed play then saw Sam Ricketts nutmeg Ashley Cole before Taylor whipped a fine curling effort over Petr Cech's bar.

    2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC

27. countableuncountablebackgammonThe central divider between the inner and outer table of a backgammon board, where stones are placed if they are hit.
28. countableuncountableAn addition to a military medal, on account of a subsequent act.
29. countableuncountablegeographyA ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance; especially
30. A ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance; especially:
    1. countableuncountablegeographyA linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water; a formation extending across the mouth of a river or harbor or off a beach, and which may obstruct navigation. (FM 55-501).

       Travellers change at Batoum into a steamer which performs the service between that port and Poti, and which has a less draught of water to enable it to cross the bar of the river Rion.

       1868, “Route 20: London to Tiflis […] ”, in Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland, and Finland, 2nd edition, London: John Murray, page 320

       Synonyms: bank

31. countableuncountablegovernmentOne of the ordinaries in heraldry; a diminutive of a fess.

    On the fesse are two bars wavy azure for waterways.

    1957 February 28, “B.T.C. Armorial Bearings”, in Railway Magazine, page 81

32. countableuncountableA city gate, in some British place names.

    Temple Bar, London

33. countableuncountablebusinessA drilling or tamping rod.
34. countableuncountablebusinessA vein or dike crossing a lode.
35. countableuncountablearchitectureA gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.
36. countableuncountablefarrieryThe part of the crust of a horse's hoof which is bent inwards towards the frog at the heel on each side, and extends into the centre of the sole.
37. countablein pluraluncountablefarrieryThe space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.
38. countableslanguncountableA measure of drugs, typically one ounce.

    Tell Sick Boy tae gie us a bell if ye see um. The bastard owes us twenty fuckin bar.

    1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “The First Shag in Ages”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 151

39. countableuncountablerecreational drugsA small, tablet-shaped dose of Xanax, typically containing two milligrams and able to be split into quarters.

present singular third person bars · participle present barring · participle past barred · past barred

1. transitiveTo obstruct the passage of (someone or something).

   Our way was barred by a huge rockfall.

   1 more example

   'One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night, / But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; / Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, / Then look for me by moonlight, / Watch for me by moonlight, / I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way.'

   1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1, stanza V, page 47

   Synonyms: block, hinder, obstruct

2. transitiveTo prohibit.

   I couldn't get into the nightclub because I had been barred.

   Synonyms: ban, interdict, prohibit, foreclose

3. transitiveTo lock or bolt with a bar.

   to bar the door

4. To imprint or paint with bars, to stripe.

   I lived in a hut in the yard. To be out of the chaos I would sometimes get into the accountant’s office. It was built of horizontal planks, and so badly put together that, as he bent over his high desk, he was barred from neck to heels with narrow strips of sunlight.

   1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 208, column 1

1. Except, other than, besides.

   He invited everyone to his wedding bar his ex-wife.

   2 more examples

   "I might be a fool," the younger man admitted quietly, "even an idiot, but there's not a person living, bar you, who possess the courage to call me a weakling, Sir."

   1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter I, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, page 5

   These see the overhead wires installed on all bar the slow lines between Bedford and Wellingborough by next May, with the remaining section completed by August, when the full programme is due to be completed.

   2019 October, Philip Sherratt, “Midland Main Line upgrade presses on”, in Modern Railways, page 62

   Synonyms: apart from, barring, except for, excepting, excluding, other than, save, apart

1. not comparablehobbiesDenotes the minimum odds offered on other horses not mentioned by name.

   Leg At Each Corner is at 3/1, Lost My Shirt 5/1, and it's 10/1 bar.

plural bars

1. A non-SI unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals, i.e. a megadyne per square centimetre.First known use 1905

   1 more example

   […] where V#95;0 is the volume of sea-water at atmospheric pressure, and -#92;deltaV the decrease of volume cased by an increase of pressure p measured in 100 Bars. [footnote:] The unit Bar = 1 megadyne per cm² has lately been proposed by Prof. V. Bjerknes, who has pointed out the great advantage of this unit over the "atmosphere", to which it is aproximately equal.

   1905 April 28, Vagn Walfrid Ekman, On the use of insulated water-bottles and reversing thermometers (Publications de circonstance; 23), Copenhagen: Andr. Fred. Høst & fils, page 6

2. obsoleteA dyne per square centimetre, i.e. a microbar in the modern sense.First known use 1903–1900s

   In Column II of the foregoing table, the air-pressure in the tank is recorded in megabars. The c.g.s. unit of pressure, 1 dyne per sq. cm. has been called the "bar"; so that the megabar is 10⁶ dynes per sq. cm.

   1909 July 28, Arthur Edwin Kennelly, C. A. Wright, J. S. van Bylevelt, “The convection of heat from small copper wires”, in Proceedings of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, volume 28, number 7, page 706

   1 more example

   It is a matter of great regret that the scientific world has not agreed upon a less arbitrary unit of pressure than the "atmosphere." The difficulty is now increased by the frequent technical use of this word to designate the pressure of a kilogram per square centimeter. The growing tendency toward the adoption of the c.g.s. system suggests the use of a consistent unit for this dimension also. Might not the pressure of a dyne per square centimeter be suitably called a bar? (Greek βαρος, pressure, weight.)

   1903 December 28, Theodore William Richards, Wilfred Newsome Stull, New Method for Determining Compressibility, Washington: Carnegie Institution, page 42f.

   Synonyms: barye, barad

1. uncountablecomputingA metasyntactic variable representing an unspecified entity, often the second in a series, following foo.

   Suppose we have four objects, foo, bar, baz and quux.

plural bars

1. USarchaicdialectalA bear.

   1 more example

   ‘You see,’ continued he, ‘my wife wanted a new bar-skin petticoat, and Sal, that gal of our’n, kept pesterin me ’bout some bar’s ile to slick her har with, (as the fellers didn’t like to see her mommock her head with taller,) so as how I couldn’t rest. Well, one Sunday morning, I took ‘Brown Betsy,’ my old two shooter, and all the dogs, and off I sot for the cane brake in the hollow, over back of Ike Hamberlin’s, the steam doctor’ — for I know’d Ike would be tarnation riley if I kilt a bar any where close to his clearin, and that made me sorter ambitious like.

   1849 November 10, The Spirit of the Times, New York, page 542, column 3

1. alternativelawAlternative spelling of bar.

1. A town and municipality of Montenegro.

   The railroad from Belgrade to Bar on the Adriatic coast negotiates 234 bridges and 254 tunnels in its tortuous 295-mile route.

   1990 August, Kenneth C. Danforth, “Yugoslavia: A House Much Divided”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 112

1. A diminutive of the female given name Barbara.
2. A diminutive of the male given name Barry.

   Barry is there, playing Ms. Pac-Man. "Hey, Bar." "Well, have you met him yet?" Barry asks.

   2008, Richard Uhlig, Last Dance at the Frosty Queen

1. A town in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine.

1. A male or female given name from Hebrew.

   Defense Minister Israel Katz paid a visit to released hostage Bar Kuperstein, who was an off-duty soldier when he was abducted by Hamas terrorists from the Nova party near Re’im on October 7, 2023.

   2025 October 15, Emanuel Fabian, “Katz visits freed hostage Bar Kupershtein, thanks him for bravery at Nova festival”, in The Times Of Israel

   1 more example

   After Spanish actress Penelope Cruz posted an Instagram story showing released Palestinian prisoners reuniting with their families for the first time, Israeli model Bar Refaeli felt compelled to respond.

   2025 October 15, “Israeli model Bar Refaeli blasts Penelope Cruz over Instagram post”, in Israel Hayom

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of Bureau of Automotive Repair

plural BARs

1. abbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of Browning automatic rifle.

comparative more BAR · superlative most BAR

1. abbreviationacronymslangbiologyAcronym of bright, alert, responsive.

   Anytime you notice your horse is ADR instead of BAR, it's time to get on the phone to your vet.

   2018, Kendra Gale, The Big Book of Miniature Horses, Trafalgar Square Books, →ISBN