n. [ OE. barre, F. barre, fr. LL. barra, W. bar the branch of a tree, bar, baren branch, Gael. & Ir. barra bar. √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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier. [ 1913 Webster ]

Must I new bars to my own joy create? Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of God. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Her.) An ordinary, like a fess but narrower, occupying only one fifth part of the field. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a bar of light; a bar of color. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Mus.) A vertical line across the staff. Bars divide the staff into spaces which represent measures, and are themselves called measures. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Mining) (a) A drilling or tamping rod. (b) A vein or dike crossing a lode. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Barred (bärd); 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

He barely looked the idea in the face, and hastened to bar it in its dungeon. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To except; to exclude by exception. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nay, but I bar to-night: you shall not gauge me
By what we do to-night. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cross with one or more stripes or lines. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the sake of distinguishing the feet more clearly, I have barred them singly. Burney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An international, interdenominational organization of Bible classes of young men; -- so named in allusion to the Hebrew word Berachah (Meaning blessing) occurring in 2 Chron. xx. 26 and 1 Chron. xii. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; weight. ] (Physics) The pressure of one dyne per square centimeter; -- used as a unit of pressure. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Med.) the inability to estimate the weight of an object. [ PJC ]

n. The terrestrial Siberian squirrel (Eutamius sibiricus).
Syn. -- baronduki, barunduki, burunduki, Eutamius asiaticus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A soft fabric with a kind of basket weave and a diapered pattern. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. barbe, fr. Barbarie. ] 1. The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A blackish or dun variety of the pigeon, originally brought from Barbary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Corrupted fr. bard. ] Armor for a horse. Same as 2d Bard, n., 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. barbe, fr. L. barba beard. See Beard, n. ] 1. Beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it. [ 1913 Webster ]

The barbel, so called by reason of his barbs, or wattles in his mouth. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen. [ Written also barbel and barble. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. “Having two barbs or points.” Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A bit for a horse. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) One of the side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane. See Feather. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Zool.) A southern name for the kingfishes of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States; -- also improperly called whiting. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Bot.) A hair or bristle ending in a double hook. [ 1913 Webster ]