Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAR, n. [W. bar; It. barra; Fr. barre; Sp. barra; Port. id.; It. barra; sbarra; Arm. barren, sparl; Heb. בריח; Ch. עברא. If these words are the Eng. bar, the sense is, a shoot, that which shoots, passes or is driven.]

1. A piece of wood, iron or other solid matter, long in proportion to its diameter, used for various purposes, but especially for a hinderance or obstruction; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door or hatchway. – Numb. iii. 36. Ex. xxvi. 26.
2. Any obstacle which obstructs, hinders or defends; an obstruction; a fortification. – Amos i. Must I new bars to my own joy create. – Dryden.
3. The shore of the sea, which restrains its waters. – Job xxxviii.
4. 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. Hence also licensed lawyers are called barristers; and hence the whole body of lawyers licensed in a court, are customarily called the bar. A trial at bar, in England, is a trial in the courts of Westminster, opposed to a trial at Nisi Prius, in the circuits.
5. Figuratively, any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion. Thus the final trial of men is called the bar of God.
6. The inclosed place of a tavern, inn or coffee-house, where the landlord or his servant delivers out liquors, and waits upon customers. – Addison.
7. A bank of sand, gravel or earth, forming a shoal at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing entrance, or rendering it difficult.
8. A rock in the sea, according to Brown; or any thing by which structure is held together, according to Johnson; used in Jonah ii.
9. Any thing laid across another, as bars in heraldry, stripes in color, and the like.
10. In the menage, the highest part of the place in a horse's mouth between the grinders and tusks, so that the part of the mouth which lies under and at the side of the bars, retains the name of the gum. Encyc. The upper part of the gums, which bears no teeth, and to which the bit is applied. – Johnson.
11. In music, bars are lines drawn perpendicularly across, the lines of the staff, including between each two, a certain quantity of time, or number of beats.
12. In law a peremptory exception sufficient to destroy the plaintif's action. It is divided into a bar to common intendment, and bar special; bar temporary, and bar perpetual. Bar, to common intendment is an ordinary or general bar, which disables the declaration of the plaintif. A special bar is more than ordinary, as a fine, release, or justification. A temporary bar is that which is good for a time, but may afterward cease. A perpetual bar overthrows the action of the plaintif forever. – Blackstone. Cowel.
13. A bar of gold or silver, is an ingot, lump or wedge, from the mines, run in a mold, and unwrought. A bar of iron is a long piece, wrought in the forge and hammered from a pig.
14. Among printers, the iron with a wooden handle, by which the screw of the press is turned.
15. In the African trade, a denomination of price; payment formerly being made to the Africans in iron bars. – Johnson.