bar

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English barre, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *barra Date: 12th century 1. a. a straight piece (as of wood or metal) that is longer than it is wide and has any of various uses (as for a lever, support, barrier, or fastening) b. a solid piece or block of material that is longer than it is wide <

a bar of gold

> <

a candy bar

> c. a usually rigid piece (as of wood or metal) longer than it is wide that is used as a handle or support; especially a handrail used by ballet dancers to maintain balance while exercising 2. something that obstructs or prevents passage, progress, or action: as a. the destruction of an action or claim in law; also a plea or objection that effects such destruction b. an intangible or nonphysical impediment c. a submerged or partly submerged bank (as of sand) along a shore or in a river often obstructing navigation 3. a. (1) the railing in a courtroom that encloses the place about the judge where prisoners are stationed or where the business of the court is transacted in civil cases (2) court, tribunal (3) a particular system of courts (4) an authority or tribunal that hands down judgment b. (1) the barrier in the English Inns of Court that formerly separated the seats of the benchers or readers from the body of the hall occupied by the students (2) the whole body of barristers or lawyers qualified to practice in the courts of any jurisdiction (3) the profession of barrister or lawyer 4. a straight stripe, band, or line much longer than it is wide: as a. one of two or more horizontal stripes on a heraldic shield b. a metal or embroidered strip worn on a usually military uniform especially to indicate rank (as of a company officer) or service 5. a. a counter at which food or especially alcoholic beverages are served b. barroom c. shop 2b 6. a. a vertical line across the musical staff before the initial measure accent b. measure 7. a lace and embroidery joining covered with buttonhole stitch for connecting various parts of the pattern in needlepoint lace and cutwork 8. standard <

wants to raise the bar for approving new drugs

> II. transitive verb (barred; barring) Date: 13th century 1. a. to fasten with a bar b. to place bars across to prevent ingress or egress <

bar the door

> 2. to mark with bars ; stripe 3. a. to confine or shut in by or as if by bars b. to set aside ; rule out <

did not bar the possibility of further measures

> c. to keep out ; exclude <

barring him from the club

> 4. a. to interpose legal objection to or to the claim of b. prevent, forbid <

a decision barring his participation

> III. preposition Date: 1714 except <

the country's most popular actor, bar none

> IV. noun Etymology: German, from Greek baros Date: 1910 a unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals V. abbreviation 1. barometer; barometric 2. barrel