Bar (bär), 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.
Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood.
Ex. xxvi. 26.
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.
3. Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents;
an obstruction; a barrier.
Must I new bars to my own joy create?
Dryden.
4. A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at
the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation.
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.
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.
7. Any tribunal; as, the bar of public
opinion; the bar of God.
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.
9. (Her.) An ordinary, like a fess but
narrower, occupying only one fifth part of the field.
10. A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a
bar of light; a bar of color.
11. (Mus.) A vertical line across the staff.
Bars divide the staff into spaces which represent measures, and are
themselves called measures.
☞ 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.
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.
13. (Mining) (a) A drilling
or tamping rod. (b) A vein or dike crossing a
lode.
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.
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.