bar¹ (bär)

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[Middle English barre, from Old French; see barre.]

noun 

1. A relatively long, straight, rigid piece of solid material used as a fastener, support, barrier, or structural or mechanical member.
2. 1. A solid oblong block of a substance, such as soap or candy.
   2. A rectangular block of a precious metal.
3. Sports
   1. A horizontal bar.
   2. A horizontal rod that marks the height to be cleared in high jumping or pole vaulting.
4. A standard, expectation, or degree of requirement: a leader whose example set a high bar for others.
5. Something that impedes or prevents action or progress. See synonyms at obstacle
6. A ridge, as of sand or gravel, on a shore or streambed, that is formed by the action of tides or currents.
7. A narrow marking, as a stripe or band.
8. 1. A narrow metal or embroidered strip worn on a military uniform indicating rank or service.
   2. Chiefly British A small insignia worn on a military decoration indicating that it has been awarded an additional time.
9. Heraldry A pair of horizontal parallel lines drawn across a shield.
10. Law
    1. The nullification, defeat, or prevention of a claim or action.
    2. The process by which nullification, defeat, or prevention is achieved.
11. The railing in a courtroom enclosing the part of the room where the judges and lawyers sit, witnesses are heard, and prisoners are tried.
12. A place of judgment; a tribunal.
13. Law
    1. Attorneys considered as a group.
    2. The profession of law.
14. Music
    1. A vertical line drawn through a staff to mark off a measure.
    2. A measure.
15. Variant of barre
16. 1. A counter at which drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, and sometimes food, are served.
    2. An establishment or room having such a counter.

transitive verb: barred, bar·ring, bars. 

1. To fasten securely with a long, straight, rigid piece of material.
2. To shut in or out with or as if with bars.
3. To obstruct or impede; block.
4. To keep out; exclude. See synonyms at hinder¹
5. To rule out; except.
6. To mark with stripes or bands.
7. Law To stop (a claim or action) by objection.

prep. 

Except for; excluding: This was your best performance, bar none.

idioms

behind bars

In prison.

bar² (bär)

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[Greek baros, weight.]

noun 

A unit of pressure equal to one million (10⁶) dynes per square centimeter.

abbreviation 

Browning automatic rifle

barre,
also bar (bär)

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[French, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin* barra, of Gaulish origin.]

noun 

1. A handrail fixed to a wall, as in a dance studio, used by ballet dancers as a support in certain exercises.
2. A fingering technique used with fretted stringed instruments in which a finger is laid across the fretboard to stop all or several strings at once.

[After Browning John Moses.]

noun 

A .30-caliber air-cooled, automatic or semiautomatic, gas-operated, magazine-fed rifle used by U.S. troops in World Wars I and II and the Korean War.