n.

1. a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter;
   barroom, saloon, ginmill, taproom
   
   • he drowned his sorrows in whiskey at the bar
2. a counter where you can obtain food or drink
   
   • he bought a hot dog and a coke at the bar
3. a rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon
   
   • there were bars in the windows to prevent escape
4. musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats;
   measure
   
   • the orchestra omitted the last twelve bars of the song
5. an obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal
   
   • it was an excellent kick but the ball hit the bar
6. the act of preventing;
   prevention
   
   • there was no bar against leaving
   • money was allocated to study the cause and prevention of influenza
7. (meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter
   
   • unfortunately some writers have used bar for one dyne per square centimeter
8. a submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shore
   
   • the boat ran aground on a submerged bar in the river
9. the body of individuals qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction;
   legal profession, legal community
   
   • he was admitted to the bar in New Jersey
10. a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax);
    cake
    
    • a bar of chocolate
11. 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;
    Browning automatic rifle, BAR
12. a horizontal rod that serves as a support for gymnasts as they perform exercises
13. a heating element in an electric fire
    
    • an electric fire with three bars
14. (law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is tried
    
    • spectators were not allowed past the bar

v.

1. prevent from entering; keep out;
   debar, exclude
   
   • He was barred from membership in the club
2. render unsuitable for passage;
   barricade, block, blockade, stop, block off, block up
   
   • block the way
   • barricade the streets
   • stop the busy road
3. expel, as if by official decree;
   banish, relegate
   
   • he was banished from his own country
4. secure with, or as if with, bars
   
   • He barred the door