bar

a  : a building or room where alcoholic drinks and sometimes food are served — see also sports bar, tiki bar

b  : a counter where alcoholic drinks are served — see also cash bar, open bar, wet bar

c  : a building or room where a particular food or drink is served — see also salad bar, snack bar

[count] : a straight piece of metal, wood, etc., that is used as a tool, as part of a structure, or to keep people from entering or leaving through a door or window

◊ In U.S. English, bar is used figuratively in phrases like raise/lower the bar and set the bar higher/lower to refer to changing the standard that is used to judge whether someone or something is good, successful, etc.

• The company's new software raises the bar for its competitors. [=the company's new software is very good and its competitors will have to produce better software to compete with it]
• Critics say that he has lowered the bar on what is considered acceptable behavior by politicians. [=he has caused people to accept worse behavior by politicians]

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— see also crossbar, crowbar, parallel bars, uneven bars

[count] : a solid piece of something that is shaped like a rectangle

[count] : a straight line, stripe, or section that is longer than it is wide — see also bar code, bar graph, task bar, toolbar

[count] formal : something that makes it difficult or impossible to do or achieve something — + to

a  US : the profession of a lawyer

b  British or the Bar : the profession of a barrister

c  US : the test that a person must pass in order to be a lawyer

a  : a line in written music that shows where a measure begins

b  : the beats between two bars in a piece of music

: to put a bar or a set of bars in front of a door, window, etc., so that people cannot go in or out of it

: to put something in a road, path, etc., so that people cannot get by

a  : to prevent or forbid (someone) from doing something

b  : to prevent or forbid (something)

— used in the phrase bar none to emphasize that a statement is completely true

British : except for : barring