Bar

/bɑː/ adj, name, noun, prep, verb, slang

adj, name, noun, prep, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length.
  • Grammar: bar is listed as adj, name, noun, prep, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: measure, abscind, accent, accent mark.
  • Useful contrasts: licensed, unbarred, admission.
  • Usage evidence: We're doing the same old routine: going bar hopping and then to karaoke.

How to use "bar"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bar" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bar" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bar" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bar" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "bar" is acting as adj, name, noun, prep, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "measure" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "bar", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

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

    "The window was protected by steel bars."

  2. 2
    A non-SI unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals, slightly less than atmospheric pressure at sea level.
  3. 3
    Initialism of Browning automatic rifle. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  4. 4
    the act of preventing wordnet
  5. 5
    A 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. countable, uncountable

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

Show 53 more definitions
  1. 6
    a rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon wordnet
  2. 7
    A cuboid piece of any solid commodity. countable, uncountable

    "bar of chocolate"

  3. 8
    an obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal wordnet
  4. 9
    A broad shaft, band, or stripe. countable, uncountable

    "a bar of light"

  5. 10
    a counter where you can obtain food or drink wordnet
  6. 11
    A long, narrow drawn or printed rectangle, cuboid or cylinder, especially as used in a bar code or a bar chart. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    (law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is tried wordnet
  8. 13
    Any 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. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    a heating element in an electric fire wordnet
  10. 15
    The 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. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    a horizontal rod that serves as a support for gymnasts as they perform exercises wordnet
  12. 17
    A 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). countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter wordnet
  14. 19
    A business selling alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises, or the premises themselves; a public house. countable, uncountable

    "The street was lined with all-night bars."

  15. 20
    a portable .30 caliber automatic rifle operated by gas pressure and fed by cartridges from a magazine; used by United States troops in World War I and in World War II and in the Korean War wordnet
  16. 21
    The counter of such premises. countable, uncountable

    "Step up to the bar and order a drink."

  17. 22
    a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax) wordnet
  18. 23
    A counter, or simply a cabinet, from which alcoholic drinks are served in a private house or a hotel room. countable, uncountable
  19. 24
    a narrow marking of a different color or texture from the background wordnet
  20. 25
    Premises or a counter serving any type of beverage. broadly, countable, in-compounds, uncountable

    "a coffee bar"

  21. 26
    musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats wordnet
  22. 27
    An informal establishment selling food to be consumed on the premises. countable, uncountable

    "a burger bar"

  23. 28
    the body of individuals qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction wordnet
  24. 29
    An establishment offering cosmetic services. countable, uncountable

    "a nail bar"

  25. 30
    a submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shore wordnet
  26. 31
    An official order or pronouncement that prohibits some activity. countable, uncountable

    "The club has lifted its bar on women members."

  27. 32
    (meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter wordnet
  28. 33
    Anything that obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier. countable, uncountable

    "Muſt I new bars to my own joy create?"

  29. 34
    A metasyntactic variable representing an unspecified entity, often the second in a series, following foo. countable, uncountable

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

  30. 35
    A dividing line (physical or notional) in the chamber of a legislature beyond which only members and officials may pass. UK, countable, uncountable
  31. 36
    The railing surrounding the part of a courtroom in which the judges, lawyers, defendants and witnesses stay. UK, countable, uncountable
  32. 37
    The bar exam, the legal licensing exam. Philippines, US, countable, uncountable, usually

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

  33. 38
    Collectively, lawyers or the legal profession; specifically applied to barristers in some countries, but including all lawyers in others. countable, metonymically, uncountable

    "He was called to the bar."

  34. 39
    One of an array of bar-shaped symbols that display the level of something, such as wireless signal strength or battery life remaining. countable, uncountable

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

  35. 40
    A vertical line across a musical staff dividing written music into sections, typically of equal durational value. countable, uncountable
  36. 41
    One of those musical sections.; Hip-hop lyrics, especially ones written and delivered skillfully. countable, in-plural, slang, uncountable

    "That rapper there, yeah, he got bars."

  37. 42
    One of those musical sections.; Something well-said or well-written. broadly, countable, in-plural, slang, uncountable

    "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."

  38. 43
    A horizontal pole that must be crossed in the high jump and pole vault. countable, uncountable
  39. 44
    Any level of achievement regarded as a challenge to be overcome; a standard or expectation. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "to set the bar high/low"

  40. 45
    The crossbar. countable, uncountable

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

  41. 46
    The central divider between the inner and outer table of a backgammon board, where stones are placed if they are hit. countable, uncountable
  42. 47
    An addition to a military medal, on account of a subsequent act. countable, uncountable
  43. 48
    A ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance; especially countable, uncountable
  44. 49
    A ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance; especially:; A 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). countable, uncountable

    "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."

  45. 50
    One of the ordinaries in heraldry; a diminutive of a fess. countable, uncountable

    "On the fesse are two bars wavy azure for waterways."

  46. 51
    A city gate, in some British place names. countable, uncountable

    "Temple Bar, London"

  47. 52
    A drilling or tamping rod. countable, uncountable
  48. 53
    A vein or dike crossing a lode. countable, uncountable
  49. 54
    A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town. countable, uncountable
  50. 55
    The 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. countable, uncountable
  51. 56
    The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed. countable, in-plural, uncountable
  52. 57
    A measure of drugs, typically one ounce. countable, slang, uncountable

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

  53. 58
    A small, tablet-shaped dose of Xanax, typically containing two milligrams and able to be split into quarters. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To obstruct the passage of (someone or something). transitive

    "Our way was barred by a huge rockfall."

  2. 2
    prevent from entering; keep out wordnet
  3. 3
    To prohibit. transitive

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

  4. 4
    secure with, or as if with, bars wordnet
  5. 5
    To lock or bolt with a bar. transitive

    "to bar the door"

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    render unsuitable for passage wordnet
  2. 7
    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."

  3. 8
    expel, as if by official decree wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Acronym of bright, alert, responsive. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, slang

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

Preposition
  1. 1
    Except, other than, besides.

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

  2. 2
    Denotes 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."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of bar. alt-of, alternative
  2. 2
    A town and municipality of Montenegro.
  3. 3
    A diminutive of the female given name Barbara.
  4. 4
    A town in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine.
  5. 5
    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."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Acronym of Bureau of Automotive Repair abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  2. 7
    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."

Synonyms

All synonyms
measureabscindaccentaccent markachievementait

Example

"We're doing the same old routine: going bar hopping and then to karaoke."

Common questions

What does "bar" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "bar"?

Common synonyms include: measure, abscind, accent, accent mark, achievement, ait.

How do you use "bar" in a sentence?

We're doing the same old routine: going bar hopping and then to karaoke.

How do you pronounce "bar"?

Pronounced /bɑː/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English barren, from Old French barrer, from Medieval Latin barrare (“to bar”), from the noun. Cognate to Occitan barrar, Spanish barrar, Portuguese barrar. Preposition properly imperative of the verb. Compare barring.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάρος (báros, “weight”), coined circa 1900.

Etymology 4

From Serbo-Croatian Bȃr.

Etymology 5

Shortenings.

Etymology 6

From Ukrainian Бар (Bar).

Etymology 7

From בר.

More for "bar"

Synonyms

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