bar1

noun

• 1a long rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, typically used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon: an iron bar bars on the windows
• an amount of food or another substance formed into a narrow block:a bar of chocolate gold bars
• a band of colour or light:bars of sunlight shafting through the windows
• British the heating element of an electric fire.
• (the bar) the crossbar of a goal: Clark’s shot hit the bar
• British a metal strip below the clasp of a medal, awarded as an additional distinction: he was awarded a second bar to his DSO
• a sandbank or shoal at the mouth of a harbour or an estuary: the bar to the estuary of the River Eske
• Heraldry a charge in the form of a narrow horizontal stripe across the shield.

• 2a counter in a pub, restaurant, or cafe across which drinks or refreshments are served: standing at the bar
• a room in a pub, restaurant, or hotel in which alcohol is served: the oak-panelled bar of the Lion [as modifier]:bar stools
• an establishment where alcohol and sometimes other refreshments are served: a small friendly bar open all day
• [with modifier] a small shop, stall, or area in a department store that serves refreshments or provides a specified service:a sandwich bar

• 3a barrier or restriction to an action or advance:political differences are not necessarily a bar to a good relationship
• Law a plea suspending an action or claim in a lawsuit.

• 4 Music any of the short sections or measures, typically of equal time value, into which a piece of music is divided, shown on a score by vertical lines across the stave: the opening bars of the first hymn

• 5 (the bar) a partition in a court room, now usually notional, beyond which most people may not pass and at which an accused person stands:the prisoner at the bar
• British a rail marking the end of each chamber in the Houses of Parliament: he had to appear at the Bar of the House for a reprimand by the Speaker

• 6 (the Bar) the profession of barrister: his dismissal from the Singapore Bar
• British barristers collectively.
• North American lawyers collectively.
• a particular court of law.

verb (bars, barring, barred)

• 1fasten (something, especially a door or window) with a bar or bars:she bolted and barred the door

• 2prevent or prohibit (someone) from doing something or from going somewhere:journalists had been barred from covering the elections
• forbid someone from undertaking (an activity):the job she loved had been barred to her
• exclude (something) from consideration:nothing is barred in the crime novel
• Law prevent or delay (an action) by objection.

• 3mark (something) with bars or stripes:his face was barred with light

preposition

• except for:his kids were all gone now, bar one
• Horse Racing, British except the horses indicated (used when stating the odds).