bar1

noun

• 1a long rod or rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, typically used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon.
• an amount of food or another substance formed into a regular narrow block:a bar of chocolate gold bars
• a band of color or light, especially on a flat surface:bars of sunlight shafting through the broken windows
• see crossbar.
• a sandbank or shoal at the mouth of a harbor, bay, or estuary.
• British a rail marking the end of each chamber in the Houses of Parliament.
• Heraldry a charge in the form of a narrow horizontal stripe across the shield.

• 2a counter across which alcoholic drinks or refreshments are served.
• a room in a restaurant or hotel in which alcohol is served.
• an establishment where alcohol and sometimes other refreshments are served.
• [usually with modifier] a small store or booth serving refreshments or providing a service:a dairy bar

• 3a barrier or restriction to an action or advance:political differences are not necessarily a bar to a good relationship

• 4 Music a measure of music or the time of a piece of music.

• 5 (the bar) a partition in a courtroom or legislative assembly, now usually notional, beyond which most people may not pass and, in court, at which an accused person stands:the prisoner at the bar he had to appear at the Bar of the House for a reprimand by the Speaker
• a plea arresting an action or claim in a law case.
• a particular court of law.

• 6 (the Bar) the legal profession.
• North American lawyers collectively.
• British barristers collectively.

verb (bars, barring, barred)

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

• 2prevent or forbid the entrance or movement of:boulders barred her passage she was barred from a men-only dinner
• prohibit (someone) from doing something:journalists had been barred from covering the elections
• forbid (an activity) to someone: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; apart from:everyone, bar a few ascetics, thinks it desirable