From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
bar
n 1: a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served
over a counter; "he drowned his sorrows in whiskey at
the bar" [syn: barroom, saloon, ginmill,
taproom]
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;
"the orchestra omitted the last twelve bars of the song"
[syn: measure]
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; "there was no bar against leaving";
"money was allocated to study the cause and prevention of
influenza" [syn: prevention]
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; "he was admitted to the bar in
New Jersey" [syn: legal profession, legal community]
10: a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax); "a bar of
chocolate" [syn: cake]
11: a portable .30 caliber magazine-fed automatic rifle operated
by gas pressure; used by United States troops in World
War I and in World War II and in the Korean War [syn:
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; "He was barred from
membership in the club" [syn: debar, exclude]
2: render unsuitable for passage; "block the way"; "barricade
the streets"; "stop the busy road" [syn: barricade,
block, blockade, stop, block off, block up]
3: expel, as if by official decree; "he was banished from his
own country" [syn: banish, relegate]
4: secure with, or as if with, bars; "He barred the door" [ant:
unbar]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bar \Bar\ (b[aum]r), n. [OE. barre, F. barre, fr. LL. barra, W.
bar the branch of a tree, bar, baren branch, Gael. & Ir.
barra bar. [root]91.]
1. A piece of wood, metal, or other material, long in
proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever
and for various other purposes, but especially for a
hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a
fence or gate; the bar of a door.
[1913 Webster]
Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood. --Ex. xxvi.
26.
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2. An indefinite quantity of some substance, so shaped as to
be long in proportion to its breadth and thickness; as, a
bar of gold or of lead; a bar of soap.
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3. Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an
obstruction; a barrier.
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Must I new bars to my own joy create? --Dryden.
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4. A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at the mouth
of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation.
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5. Any railing that divides a room, or office, or hall of
assembly, in order to reserve a space for those having
special privileges; as, the bar of the House of Commons.
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6. (Law)
(a) The railing that incloses the place which counsel
occupy in courts of justice. Hence, the phrase at the
bar of the court signifies in open court.
(b) The place in court where prisoners are stationed for
arraignment, trial, or sentence.
(c) The whole body of lawyers licensed in a court or
district; the legal profession.
(d) A special plea constituting a sufficient answer to
plaintiff's action.
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7. Any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of
God.
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8. A barrier or counter, over which liquors and food are
passed to customers; hence, the portion of the room behind
the counter where liquors for sale are kept.
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9. (Her.) An ordinary, like a fess but narrower, occupying
only one fifth part of the field.
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10. A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a bar of light; a
bar of color.
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11. (Mus.) A vertical line across the staff. Bars divide the
staff into spaces which represent measures, and are
themselves called measures.
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Note: A double bar marks the end of a strain or main division
of a movement, or of a whole piece of music; in
psalmody, it marks the end of a line of poetry. The
term bar is very often loosely used for measure, i.e.,
for such length of music, or of silence, as is included
between one bar and the next; as, a passage of eight
bars; two bars' rest.
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12. (Far.) pl.
(a) The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper
jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.
(b) 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 center of the sole.
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13. (Mining)
(a) A drilling or tamping rod.
(b) A vein or dike crossing a lode.
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14. (Arch.)
(a) A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.
(b) A slender strip of wood which divides and supports
the glass of a window; a sash bar.
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Bar shoe (Far.), a kind of horseshoe having a bar across
the usual opening at the heel, to protect a tender frog
from injury.
Bar shot, a double headed shot, consisting of a bar, with a
ball or half ball at each end; -- formerly used for
destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat.
Bar sinister (Her.), a term popularly but erroneously used
for baton, a mark of illegitimacy. See Baton.
Bar tracery (Arch.), ornamental stonework resembling bars
of iron twisted into the forms required.
Blank bar (Law). See Blank.
Case at bar (Law), a case presently before the court; a
case under argument.
In bar of, as a sufficient reason against; to prevent.
Matter in bar, or Defence in bar, any matter which is a
final defense in an action.
Plea in bar, a plea which goes to bar or defeat the
plaintiff's action absolutely and entirely.
Trial at bar (Eng. Law), a trial before all the judges of
one the superior courts of Westminster, or before a quorum
representing the full court.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bar \Bar\ (b[aum]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Barred (b[aum]rd); p.
pr. & vb. n. Barring.] [ F. barrer. See Bar, n.]
1. To fasten with a bar; as, to bar a door or gate.
[1913 Webster]
2. To restrict or confine, as if by a bar; to hinder; to
obstruct; to prevent; to prohibit; as, to bar the entrance
of evil; distance bars our intercourse; the statute bars
my right; the right is barred by time; a release bars the
plaintiff's recovery; -- sometimes with up.
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He barely looked the idea in the face, and hastened
to bar it in its dungeon. --Hawthorne.
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3. To except; to exclude by exception.
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Nay, but I bar to-night: you shall not gauge me
By what we do to-night. --Shak.
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4. To cross with one or more stripes or lines.
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For the sake of distinguishing the feet more
clearly, I have barred them singly. --Burney.
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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
bar
1. <programming, convention> /bar/ The second {metasyntactic
variable}, after foo and before baz. E.g. "Suppose
function FOO calls functions BAR..."
2. Often appended to foo to produce foobar.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-07)
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
bar
/bar/, n.
1. [very common] The second metasyntactic variable, after foo and
before baz. "Suppose we have two functions: FOO and BAR. FOO calls
BAR...."
2. Often appended to foo to produce foobar.