noun, prep, verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Bars; an arrangement or pattern of stripes or bars. collective, countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto wordnet
3. 3
   The act of fitting or closing something with bars. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   The exclusion of someone; blackballing. countable, uncountable
5. 5
   Timber used for supporting the roof or sides of shafts. countable, uncountable

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6. 6
   The sewing of a decorative bar or tack upon a fabric or leather. countable, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of bar form-of, gerund, participle, present
2. 2
   present participle and gerund of barr form-of, gerund, obsolete, participle, present

Preposition

1. 1
   Unless something happens; excepting; in the absence of.

   "Barring any further red tape, we will finally be able to open the restaurant."

Synonyms

All synonyms

except forapart fromaside frombanbarbeside

Example

More examples

"Barring anything unforeseen everything should turn all right."

Related phrases

barring enginebarring motor

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.