barring

Multiple Entries:
  barring    bar  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
barring/ˈbɑːrɪŋ/

▶preposition except for; if not for.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bar1

▶noun

• 1 a long rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon.

  ■ a sandbank or shoal at the mouth of a harbour or an estuary.

  ■ Brit. a metal strip below the clasp of a medal, awarded as an additional distinction.

  ■ Heraldry a charge in the form of a narrow horizontal stripe across the shield.

• 2 a counter in a pub or cafe across which drinks or refreshments are served.

  ■ a room in a pub, restaurant, or hotel in which alcohol is served.

  ■ an establishment where alcohol and other refreshments are served.

  ■ a small shop or stall serving refreshments or providing a specified service: a snack bar.

• 3 a barrier or restriction to action or advance: a bar to promotion.

  ■ a plea arresting an action or claim in a law case.

• 4 Music any of the short sections or measures into which a piece of music is divided, shown on a score by vertical lines across the stave.

• 5 (the bar) a partition in a court room, now usually notional, beyond which most people may not pass and at which an accused person stands.

  ■ Brit. a rail marking the end of each chamber in the Houses of Parliament.

• 6 (the Bar) the profession of barrister.

  ■ Brit. barristers collectively.

  ■ N. Amer. lawyers collectively.

▶verb (bars, barring, barred)

• 1 fasten with a bar or bars.

• 2 prohibit from doing something or going somewhere.

  ■ exclude from consideration.

  ■ Law prevent or delay (an action) by objection.

• 3 mark with bars or stripes.

▶preposition chiefly Brit. except for.

■ Brit. Horse Racing except the horses indicated (used when stating the odds).

– phrases
bar none with no exceptions.
be called (or go) to the Bar Brit. be admitted as a barrister.
be called within the Bar Brit. be appointed a Queen's Counsel.
behind bars in prison.
lower (or raise) the bar lower (or raise) the standards which need to be met in order to qualify for something.

– derivatives
barred adjective.

– origin ME: from OFr. barre (n.), barrer (v.), of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bar2

▶noun a unit of pressure equivalent to a hundred thousand newtons per square metre or approximately one atmosphere.

– origin early 20th cent.: from Gk baros ‘weight’.