n. A piece of wood, metal, or other solid matter, long in proportion to its thickness, used for some mechanical purpose; a rod: as, a capstan-bar; the bars of a grate; the splinter-bar of a vehicle; especially, such a piece of wood or metal used as an obstruction or guard: as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door or window.n. Anything which obstructs, hinders, or impedes; an obstruction; an obstacle; a barrier.n. A barrier— At the entrance to a city, or between the city proper and its suburbs; hence, the gate at which the barrier was placed in former times, as Temple Bar in London, now removed, and the existing medieval bars of York.n. At a toll-house; a toll-gate. Also called toll-bar.n. An accumulation forming a bank obstructive to navigation or to the flow of water.n. A narrow point of land jutting out into the water. In placer-mining, an accumulation of sand or gravel in or near the bed of a stream.n. In law: The railing inclosing the place which counsel occupy in courts of justice.n. The place in court where prisoners are stationed for arraignment, trial, or sentence.n. The practising members of the legal profession in a given community; all those who have the right to plead in a court; counsel or barristers in general, or those present in court.n. A stoppage or defeat in an action or suit by countervailing the alleged right of action.n. In England, a railing or barrier which separates a space near the door from the body of either house of Parliament, beyond which none but members and clerks are admitted.n. Figuratively, any tribunal: as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of God.n. That portion of a tavern, inn, coffee-house, or the like, where liquors, etc., are set out; the counter over which articles are served in such an establishment.n. A band or stripe: as, a bar of light.n. In farriery, the upper part of the gums of a horse between the grinders and tusks, which bears no teeth, and to which the bit is fitted.n. In music, a line drawn perpendicularly across the staff, dividing it into equal measures of time and marking the place of the strong accent; hence, the space and notes included between two such lines; the portion of music represented by the included notes. See also double bar, below.n. In com.: An ingot, a lump, or a wedge, as of gold or silver, from the mines, run in a mold, and unwrought.n. A short piece of bar-iron about half a pound in weight, used as a medium of traffic with African negroes.n. In printing: The lever by which the pressure is applied in a hand-press.n. The middle cross-piece of a printers' chase.n. In heraldry, a horizontal stripe crossing the field, narrower than the fesse, and occupying usually one fifth or less of the field: one of the nine ordinaries.n. In a bridle, the mouthpiece connecting the checks.n. In a rifle-sight, a plate in the form of a segment, with its upper or chord edge horizontal, and secured in a ring.n. In saddlery, one of the side pieces connecting the pommel and cantle of a saddle.To fasten with a bar, or as with a bar.To hinder; obstruct; prevent; prohibit; restrain.To except; exclude by exception.To provide with a bar or bars; mark with bars; cross with one or more stripes or lines.To make into bars.Except; omitting; but: as, to offer to bet two to one against any horse bar one.n. An acanthopterygian European fish, Sciæna aquila. Also called maigre.An obsolete (Middle English) or dialectal form of bare.A Middle English preterit of bear.n. A dialectal form of bear.n. A Middle English form of baron.n. In England, the space behind the bar, often large enough to form a small office. Also called bar-parlor.n. In anatomy: A general term for any of the cranial arches, such as Meckel's cartilage, or the hyoid and branchial arches, which have the form of more or less continuous rods or bars.n. Less often used for portions of the cranium which have a rod-like shape, as the jugal or postorbital bars. In this sense synonymous with *arcade or architecturen. In meteorology, a long cigar-shaped cloud, generally nearly stationary, but sometimes moving broadside on across the sky; specifically, the stationary cloud to the leeward of the helm-cloud over the Cross-fell range in England during easterly winds.n. The division between the two tables of a backgammon-board on which captured pieces are placed.n. Specifically, in violin-making, the same as bass-bar.n. Same as pennant-bar.In any betting transaction, to exclude one of the possibilities: as, to bet 4 to 1, bar one, in a horse-race, meaning that a certain horse is not included.An abbreviation of barometer.