bar

Someone who spends the greater part of their time in bars or other drinking establishments. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. You get to know the people in these places when you're a barfly like me.

Someone who has or seeks a popular reputation by frequenting bars or night clubs. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. Though he does not have a vibrant social life during the week, during the weekend he is something of a bar star.

To barricade, fit, or fortify with metal bars. Crime has gotten so bad in this area that we've had to bar up our windows. They finally barred up that old abandoned building last weekend.

To be completely unaware of or know nothing about someone; to have never met the person indicated. My girlfriend got really excited when a movie star apparently walked past us, but I wouldn't know him from a bar of soap. Someone I wouldn't know from a bar of soap just contacted me online, claiming to be a distant relative.

To lower the standards of quality that are expected of or required for something. Soaring rents have really lowered the bar for where people are willing to live these days. During the economic boom, regulators lowered the bar for investment bankers' accountability.

To raise the standards of quality that are expected of or required for something. Since higher education became available to a greater number of people, businesses have increasingly been raising the bar for entry-level employees.

To spend a large amount of time drinking at a pub or pubs in general. Primarily heard in UK. My father spent most of my childhood propping up the bar, so forgive me if I am not overly enthusiastic about social drinking. John's down at the local, propping up the bar with his mates from work.

To be arrested and held in prison; to be serving time in prison. I hear Mike's uncle has been put behind bars again. I wonder what he did this time! Sir, I'm afraid your son has been put behind bars on a charge of drunk driving.

To arrest someone and hold him or her in prison; to sentence someone to serve time in prison. I heard that they put Mike's uncle behind bars for robbing a liquor store! The cops put our son behind bars on a charge of drunk driving, so we have to go down to the station to bail him out.

To establish an expected, required, or desired (but ultimately constrictive) standard of quality. A: "At this point, I'm willing to go out with just about any guy, so long as he isn't living in his parents' basement." B: "Don't you think you're setting a bit of a low bar?" While you shouldn't take just any job you can get after college, be sure not to set too high a bar for an entry level job, or you may have trouble landing one at all.

To establish an expected, required, or desired standard of quality. (Often said of a standard that is constrictive in being either too low or too high). A: "At this point, I'm willing to go out with just about any guy, so long as he isn't living in his parents' basement." B: "Don't you think you're setting the bar a little low?" While you shouldn't take just any job you can get after college, be sure not to set the bar too high for an entry level job, or you may have trouble landing one at all. I hear that the new restaurant around the corner really sets the bar for exquisite seafood.

To walk up to something (not necessarily an actual bar). Come on, just belly up to the bar! Push through that crowd in the lobby so we can get to the check-in desk today!

To prohibit someone from a certain place or thing. My rude comments got me barred from that website. My friends and I were barred from that restaurant after we got into fight there. I bar you from every coming in here again.

For sure; unequivocally. This is the best restaurant in town, bar none. Stephanie got the lead in the school play because she's the best actress in the school, bar none.

with no exceptions. (Follows an assertion.) This is the best of all, bar none.

to prevent someone from entering some place. Please don't bar me from the movie theater. I will be quiet from now on. They were barred from the concert for smoking.

in jail. (*Typically: be ~; put someone ~.) Very soon, you will be behind bars for your crimes. Max should be behind bars soon for his conviction on burglary charges.

Prepare immediately for an advancing threat. Katie bar the door, the grandchildren are here and they all look hungry.

Fig. to make a task a little more difficult. (As with raising the bar in high jumping or pole vaulting.) Just as I was getting accustomed to my job, the manager raised the bar and I had to perform even better.

without omitting anyone or anything Terrell is the best player in the division, bar none.

in prison It's impossible to imagine what it would be like to spend your whole life behind bars.

in prison He spent ten years behind bars after being convicted for armed robbery.

something that you say when the result of an event or situation is certain The Italian team played superbly, and by half-time it was all over bar the shouting (= it was certain they would win).

The outcome is a certainty, as in When Jim hit the ball over the fence, it was all over but the shouting. The term's first use in print, in 1842, was by Welsh sportswriter Charles James Apperley, but some authorities believe it originated even earlier in the United States for a close political race. Today it is applied to any contest. A common British version is all over bar the shouting.

Also, barring none. Without exception, as in This is the best book I've read all year, bar none. [Mid-1800s]

In prison, as in All murderers should be put behind bars for life. The bars here refer to the iron rods used to confine prisoners. [c. 1900]

In prison.

A coat of arms ornamentation that is supposedly a sign of illegitimacy. The phrase, which has appeared in the works of novelists Laurence Sterne and Sir Walter Scott, implies a “bar” that prevents the person from a legitimate claim or inheritance, while “sinister” (the heraldic term for a coat of arms' left side) sounds menacing. Although the idea of a bar sinister on an illegitimate person's shield entered popular speech more than two centuries ago, that's not heraldically correct. A patterned border around a shield was the British heraldry way of indicating bastardy, and if you want to be even more technical, a thin diagonal line that does not touch the edges of the shield is a “baton,” not a “bar.” However, people rarely check with the College of Arms before using words and phrases.

"Watch out—there's trouble coming!” King James I, who was set upon in 1437 by unhappy Scots, took refuge in a room whose door had no bar lock. One Catherine Douglas tried to keep the door closed with her arm, but the mob broke through and murdered the king. That the king might have shouted, “Catherine, bar the door,” is not too very different from the once-popular phrase. That the expression was brought to America by Anglo-Scottish settlers is equally likely, and for genera- tions rural folk would acknowledge a difficult situation with a shake of the head and “Katy, bar the door.”