Barr
name, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Obsolete spelling of bar. alt-of, countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 1 To make the sound of an elephant. obsolete
"He gave us also the example of the Philosopher, who, when he thought most seriously to have withdrawn himself unto a solitary Privacy, far from the rufling Clutterments of the tumultuous and confused World, the better to improve his Theory, to contrive, comment, and ratiocinate, was, notwithstanding his uttermost Endeavours to free himself from all untowards Noises, surrounded and environ'd about so with the barking of Curs, howling of Wolves, neighing of Horses, bleating of Sheep, barring of Elephants, hissing of Serpents, braying of Asses, chirping of Grasshoppers, cooing of Turtles[…]"
- 2 Obsolete spelling of bar. alt-of, obsolete
- 1 An English and Scottish surname.
- 2 A commune in Bas-Rhin department, Alsace, Grand Est, France.
- 3 A village in South Ayrshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NX2794).
- 4 A locality in Bishop's Hull parish, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST1925).
- 5 A township in Daviess County, Indiana, United States.
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- 6 A township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Example
More examples"Donald Trump was on his way to becoming a tin-pot dictator, propped up by corrupt sycophants such as Attorney General William Barr."
Etymology
From French barrir (“to trumpet; to make the sound of an elephant”), from Old French barrire, from Late Latin barriō, from Latin barrus (“elephant”).
See bar.
As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, from barr (“height, hill, tip”). As an English surname, from bar.
Related phrases
More for "barr"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.