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Added 7 October 2026

bar

/bɑː/ symbol

Categories: ThingsLanguageEveryday Words

In Latin: strīctūra, tubulus Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bar at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. ISO 639-3 language code for Bavarian.

noun

  1. A 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. A solid metal object with uniform (round, square, hexagonal, octagonal or rectangular) cross-section; in the US its smallest dimension is ⁄4 inch or greater, a piece of thinner material being called a strip.
    Ancient Sparta used iron bars instead of handy coins in more valuable alloy, to physically discourage the use of money.
  3. A cuboid piece of any solid commodity.
    bar of chocolate

verb

  1. To obstruct the passage of (someone or something).
    Our way was barred by a huge rockfall.
  2. To prohibit.
    I couldn't get into the nightclub because I had been barred.
  3. To lock or bolt with a bar.
    to bar the door

preposition

  1. Except, other than, besides.
    He invited everyone to his wedding bar his ex-wife.

Origin

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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