Skip to main content
to bar

to bar

31 3.3
To officially prevent someone from entering or taking part
  • verb
  • /bɑr/
translation icon : prohibir
  • Folks, Mr. Zalinsky gave us specific instructions to bar you from the building.
  • law bars
  • bar lawsuits
  • bar private actions

Examples

  • The Fourth Amendment bars the government from unreasonable search and seizure of your scribblings while at home.

  • The judge decided to bar the defendant from attending the trial due to prior misconduct.

  • You have no right to bar us from this house.

  • Why did you bar him?

  • A rule should be in place that bars the player from the next game.

    Blog text (15)
  • You could withdraw my card of identity and bar me from news conferences.

  • And if someone bars your way, he threatens not just you, but the good of the kingdom as a whole.

  • Article VI of the Constitution expressly bars any religious test for public office.

    Academic text (1993)
  • A state legislature bars ordained clergy from becoming candidates for public office.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Planned Parenthood sought and received an injunction to bar the new Wisconsin law from taking effect.

    Academic text (1996)

Synonyms

to ban
vsto bar
  • Formal
484 1.4

To officially stop someone from doing something by law or rule

focuses specifically on stopping people from entering or taking part
to exclude
vsto bar
338 3.0

To keep someone or something out so they are not part of something

involves official prevention or forbidding rather than mere omission
to prohibit
vsto bar
299 3.3

To officially say that something is not allowed by law

addresses stopping people from joining or participating rather than general acts
to debar
vsto bar
  • Formal
7.9

To officially stop someone from entering, taking part, or holding a position

is broader covering prevention of entry joining or participation

Antonyms

1.0

To let something happen or let someone do something

238 2.8

Allow someone to join a group or organization

Idioms

bar none
  • Informal
9 6.5

To say there are no exceptions or rivals

1 3.9

Make a high goal for others to reach

To become a barrister and be officially allowed to work in court

Only small formal steps remain before the result is final

To not understand anything about a subject

Phrasal Verbs

To set a higher standard that others must reach

to hit the bar
  • Informal
2 7.0

Go to a bar to have a drink and talk with friends

1 8.8

Go up to a bar counter to order a drink

to bar hop
  • Informal
1 6.9

To go from bar to bar, drinking at each place

to bar off
  • Informal
5.6

To block a place so people cannot enter, often by putting up a fence

to bar-hopping
  • Informal
5.1

To visit several bars in one night to drink and socialize

8.8

To spend time at a bar drinking and talking with friends

Compounds

71 1.0

A sweet made of chocolate or sugar that you eat as a snack

45 7.3

A Jewish ceremony for a boy on his thirteenth birthday marking his religious responsibilities

25 1.0

A solid sweet made from cocoa, shaped like a bar to eat as a snack

16 1.0

A counter where people help themselves to salad toppings and dressings

13 6.2

A test that checks if a person can work as a lawyer in a country or state

10 1.3

A small place where people buy and eat sandwiches and drinks

9 1.5

A small baked snack made from oats, nuts, and honey, often with dried fruit

8 2.5

A bar that mainly serves wine

wet bar
  • US
7 4.5

A small counter with a sink for mixing and serving drinks

7 2.4

A place where chefs prepare and serve sushi at a counter

5 1.3

A small café where people buy coffee and light snacks

bar code
  • Specialized
4 2.5

A pattern of black bars and numbers on products that a scanner reads

4 1.4

A rectangular milk chocolate bar made by the Hershey company

4 1.0

A small solid piece that you use to wash your body or hands

3 6.1

A difficult standard to reach

3 3.5

A bar at a party or event where guests pay for their own drinks

pry bar
  • US
3 4.8

A heavy metal tool with a flat pointed end used to lift things and pull nails

3 1.0

A long key on a keyboard that adds a space between words

2 3.1

A chart that uses bars of different lengths to show and compare numbers

2 3.4

A strong bar attached to a wall that you hold for support, often in a bathroom

2 3.5

A restaurant that mainly serves oysters, raw or cooked

2 2.3

A bar fixed to a wall for hanging towels

1 3.0

A graph with bars that show and compare numbers for different groups

bar-hopping
  • Informal
1 3.7

Visiting several bars in one night to drink and socialize

bar wench
  • Slur
1 9.9

A woman who serves drinks in a bar, often in old stories or costume parties

1 8.2

An official exam a person must pass to become a lawyer

bar girl
  • Slang
1 8.1

A woman who talks and spends time with men in a bar to get tips or drinks

1 2.5

A sweet snack of nuts and sugar on a thin baked base cut into bars

title bar
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A bar at the top of a window that shows the document or program name

anti-sway bar
  • Specialized
1 6.0

A metal bar under a car that reduces how much the car leans in turns

bar line
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A vertical line on a music staff that shows where one group of beats ends and the next begins

bar-hopping
  • Informal
1 6.4

Relating to visiting several bars in one outing to drink and meet people

1 1.2

A baked sweet snack with chopped fruit cut into bars

milk bar
  • Australian
1 3.3

A small shop that sells milk drinks, ice cream and light snacks

high bar
  • Specialized
1 5.3

A horizontal bar high above the ground that gymnasts swing on

1 8.4

A bar where women talk with and serve drinks to customers

roll bar
  • Specialized
1 3.5

A strong metal bar inside a vehicle that protects people if it flips over

1 7.4

A long strong metal tool with a pointed end used to lift heavy things

1 7.7

A T-shaped bar that pulls skiers uphill

1 6.5

A long strong iron bar with a flat or forked end that you use to force things apart

A plant with large green leaves that people keep indoors for decoration

4.8

A sweet snack made from carob powder that people eat like chocolate

A horizontal bar fixed at a height for lifting your body until your chin is above it

color bar
  • Offensive
7.9

A system that keeps people of different races apart and often denies rights to Black people

2.7

A sweet baked slice made with chopped dates and a crumbly crust

double bar
  • Specialized
5.7

A pair of vertical lines in written music that show the end of a main section or the whole piece

double bar
  • Specialized
5.5

A symbol in programming that returns true when one or both conditions are true

A sweet baked slice with apricot jam or fruit

bar printer
  • Archaic
8.0

A machine that prints a whole line at once by hitting paper with a moving bar

bar sinister
  • Archaic
9.9

A diagonal band on a shield in heraldry running from the upper right to the lower left

bar sinister
  • Archaic
9.9

Being born to parents who were not married

bar star
  • Informal
7.8

A bartender who is very good at making drinks and attracts many customers

bar absolute
  • Specialized
9.9

A unit of pressure measured from complete vacuum and equal to the air pressure at sea level

8.2

A table game like pool where short cues hit balls into holes while knocking wooden pegs loses points

bar bit
  • Specialized
9.2

A solid metal bar that sits in a horse's mouth to help the rider control the horse

bar code
  • Specialized
3.5

A short piece of DNA used to identify a species

bar fly
  • Slang
8.1

A person who spends a lot of time drinking at bars

6.4

A protective face guard made of metal bars used by the catcher in baseball or softball

bar magnet
  • Specialized
3.7

A straight rectangular piece of metal that attracts iron and has opposite poles at each end

bar-lamb
  • Slang
9.9

A person who is kind and gentle and easily says yes to others

axle bar
  • Specialized
7.9

A strong metal rod that holds a vehicle's wheels

gill bar
  • Specialized
9.9

An arch of bone or flexible tissue at the side of a fish's throat that supports the gills

hitching bar
  • Archaic
9.1

A fixed horizontal bar that people tie horses to so they do not wander

A single metal pole fixed high between two posts that gymnasts swing and perform moves on

kangaroo bar
  • Informal
9.3

A bar with loud music and people dancing

needle bar
  • Specialized
6.9

A metal rod in a sewing machine that holds and moves the needle up and down

A sweet bar made of soft, chewy sugar and nuts often covered in chocolate

8.3

A long heavy metal tool with a flat chisel end for prying and a curved claw end for pulling nails

A sweet snack made from peanuts and syrup, shaped like a bar

3.1

A long narrow strip of sand in water that shows above the water

tamping bar
  • Specialized
9.3

A long heavy tool for packing material tightly into a hole or small space

A ski lift with a T-shaped bar that pulls skiers or snowboarders uphill as they hold it

torsion bar
  • Specialized
6.1

A metal bar under a vehicle that twists to act like a spring and absorb shocks

How Excluded

to blacklist
19 4.4
to ban
  • Formal
484 1.4
to bar
31 3.3
to exclude
338 3.0
to deter
94 5.6

Surface Forms

bar infinitive
barring present participle
bars third person singular
bared past
bared past participle

Etymology

To bar someone, meaning 'to forbid', comes from the idea of putting a 'bar' in front of them; that's why it means to officially stop someone from joining or entering.