Bar vs. Bur — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 3, 2024
Bar serves primarily as a venue for drinking or as a unit of pressure measurement, while bur refers to a prickly seed case or a dental tool.
Difference Between Bar and Bur
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A bar can be a public venue that sells alcoholic beverages to customers for consumption on the premises, whereas a bur typically denotes a seed case covered with hooks or spines that attach to animals or clothing for dispersal.
Bars are also used in legal and engineering contexts, referring to the profession (as in passing the bar) and as a unit of pressure (one bar equals 100,000 pascals), on the other hand, burs in a dental or surgical setting are small, rotary cutting tools used in drilling.
In music and gymnastics, a bar is either a measure of music or a horizontal rod used for exercises, whereas the term bur does not have relevant meanings in these fields.
Bars play a significant role in social interaction, providing spaces for socializing and entertainment, while burs, in nature, are primarily a means of seed dispersal and protection against herbivores.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A unit of pressure; a venue for alcohol.
A prickly seed case; a dental tool.
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Contexts
Legal, engineering, social venues.
Botany, dentistry.
Function
Measurement, socializing, or exercising.
Seed dispersal, dental procedures.
Relevance
Social, legal, scientific.
Natural world, medical.
Example Usage
"He went to the bar."
"She removed a bur from her sweater."
Compare with Definitions
Bar
A place where alcoholic drinks are sold and consumed.
She met her friends at the bar downtown.
Bur
A borough or administrative division.
He was elected mayor of the small bur.
Bar
A professional body of lawyers.
He was admitted to the state bar last year.
Bur
A rotary cutting tool used by dentists.
The dentist changed the bur for a finer cut.
Bar
A long rod or rigid piece of material.
The gymnast swung from the high bar.
Bur
A seed capsule with hooks or spines.
The dog's fur was full of burs after the walk.
Bar
A division in a musical score.
The conductor paused at the bar.
Bur
A rough edge or area on metal or other materials (bur, burr).
The machinist filed down the bur.
Bar
A unit of pressure in scientific contexts.
The pressure was measured at two bars.
Bur
(less commonly) A type of fortification or tower.
The old bur overlooked the village.
Bar
A long rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, typically used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon
Bars on the windows
An iron bar
Bur
A bur (also spelled burr) is a seed or dry fruit or infructescence that has hooks or teeth. Some other forms of diaspores, such as the stems of certain species of cactus also are covered with thorns and may function as burs.
Bar
A counter in a pub, restaurant, or cafe across which drinks or refreshments are served
Standing at the bar
Bur
See burr (sense 2 of the noun, bur sense 3 of the noun, bur sense 5 of the noun, bur sense 6 of the noun)
Bar
A barrier or restriction to an action or advance
Political differences are not necessarily a bar to a good relationship
Bur
A rough prickly husk or covering surrounding the seeds or fruits of plants such as the chestnut or the burdock.
Bar
Any of the short sections or measures, typically of equal time value, into which a piece of music is divided, shown on a score by vertical lines across the stave
The opening bars of the first hymn
Bur
A plant producing such husks or coverings.
Bar
A partition in a court room, now usually notional, beyond which most people may not pass and at which an accused person stands
The prisoner at the bar
Bur
A persistently clinging or nettlesome person or thing.
Bar
The profession of barrister
His dismissal from the Singapore Bar
Bur
A rough protuberance, especially a burl on a tree.
Bar
A unit of pressure equivalent to a hundred thousand newtons per square metre or approximately one atmosphere.
Bur
Any of various rotary cutting tools designed to be attached to a drill.
Bar
Fasten (something, especially a door or window) with a bar or bars
She bolted and barred the door
Bur
Variant of burr2.
Bar
Prevent or prohibit (someone) from doing something or from going somewhere
Journalists had been barred from covering the elections
Bur
Variant of burr3.
Bar
Mark (something) with bars or stripes
His face was barred with light
Bur
A rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants.
Bar
Except for
His kids were all gone now, bar one
Bur
Any of several plants having such husks.
Bar
A relatively long, straight, rigid piece of solid material used as a fastener, support, barrier, or structural or mechanical member.
Bur
A rotary cutting implement having a selection of variously shaped heads.
Bar
A solid oblong block of a substance or combination of ingredients, such as soap or candy.
Bur
Alternative form of burr.
Bar
A usually rectangular slice of any of various flat baked confections that are typically dense in texture.
Bur
Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock; a seed vessel having hooks or prickles. Also, any weed which bears burs.
Amongst rude burs and thistles.
Bur and brake and brier.
Bar
A rectangular block of a precious metal.
Bur
The sweetbread.
Bar
See horizontal bar.
Bur
A clinker; a partially vitrified brick.
Bar
A horizontal rod that marks the height to be cleared in high jumping or pole vaulting.
Bur
A small circular saw.
Bar
A standard, expectation, or degree of requirement
A leader whose example set a high bar for others.
Bur
The round knob of an antler next to a deer's head.
Bar
Something that impedes or prevents action or progress
A poor education was a bar to his ambitions.
Bur
Seed vessel having hooks or prickles
Bar
A ridge, as of sand or gravel, on a shore or streambed, that is formed by the action of tides or currents.
Bur
Small bit used in dentistry or surgery
Bar
A narrow marking, as a stripe or band.
Bur
Remove the burrs from
Bar
A narrow metal or embroidered strip worn on a military uniform indicating rank or service.
Bar
Chiefly British A small insignia worn on a military decoration indicating that it has been awarded an additional time.
Bar
(Heraldry) A pair of horizontal parallel lines drawn across a shield.
Bar
The nullification, defeat, or prevention of a claim or action.
Bar
The process by which nullification, defeat, or prevention is achieved.
Bar
The railing in a courtroom separating the participants in a legal proceeding from the spectators.
Bar
A court or courtroom.
Bar
Attorneys considered as a group. Used with the.
Bar
The profession of law. Used with the.
Bar
A vertical line drawn through a staff to mark off a measure.
Bar
A measure.
Bar
Variant of barre.
Bar
A counter at which drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, and sometimes food, are served.
Bar
An establishment or room having such a counter.
Bar
A unit of pressure equal to one million (106) dynes per square centimeter.
Bar
To fasten securely with a long, straight, rigid piece of material
Barred the gate.
Bar
To shut in or confine
Barred themselves in the basement.
Bar
To obstruct or impede; block
Barred the access route.
Bar
To keep out; exclude
Tourists are barred from this room.
Bar
To prohibit or prevent (someone) from doing something
Failing the eye exam barred him from driving.
Bar
To prohibit (an action)
The state bars the dumping of waste in the river.
Bar
(Law) To nullify, defeat, or prevent (a claim or action).
Bar
To rule out; except
Can we bar the possibility of foul play?.
Bar
To mark with stripes or bands.
Bar
Chiefly British Except for; excluding
This was your best performance, bar none.
Bar
A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length.
The window was protected by steel bars.
Bar
A solid metal object with uniform (round, square, hexagonal, octagonal or rectangular) cross-section; in the US its smallest dimension is 4 inch or greater, a piece of thinner material being called a strip.
Ancient Sparta used iron bars instead of handy coins in more valuable alloy, to physically discourage the use of money.
We are expecting a carload of bar tomorrow.
Bar
A cuboid piece of any solid commodity.
Bar of chocolate
Bar of soap
Bar
A broad shaft, band, or stripe.
A bar of light
A bar of colour
Bar
A long, narrow drawn or printed rectangle, cuboid or cylinder, especially as used in a bar code or a bar chart.
Bar
(typography) Any of various lines used as punctuation or diacritics, such as the pipe ⟨{{!}}⟩, fraction bar (as in 12), and strikethrough (as in Ⱥ), formerly including oblique marks such as the slash.
Bar
(mathematics) The sign indicating that the characteristic of a logarithm is negative, conventionally placed above the digit(s) to show that it applies to the characteristic only and not to the mantissa.
Bar
(physics) A similar sign indicating that the charge on a particle is the negative of its usual value (and that consequently the particle is in fact an antiparticle).
Bar
A business selling alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises, or the premises themselves; a public house.
The street was lined with all-night bars.
Bar
The counter of such premises.
Step up to the bar and order a drink.
Bar
A counter, or simply a cabinet, from which alcoholic drinks are served in a private house or a hotel room.
Bar
, juice bar, etc.}} Premises or a counter serving any type of beverage.
Bar
An establishment where alcohol and sometimes other refreshments are served.
Bar
An informal establishment selling food to be consumed on the premises.
A burger bar
A local fish bar
Bar
An establishment offering cosmetic services.
A nail bar; a brow bar
Bar
An official order or pronouncement that prohibits some activity.
The club has lifted its bar on women members.
Bar
Anything that obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.
Bar
A metasyntactic variable representing an unspecified entity, often the second in a series, following foo.
Suppose we have four objects, foo, bar, baz and quux.
Bar
A dividing line (physical or notional) in the chamber of a legislature beyond which only members and officials may pass.
Bar
The railing surrounding the part of a courtroom in which the judges, lawyers, defendants and witnesses stay.
Bar
The bar exam, the legal licensing exam.
He's studying hard to pass the Bar this time; he's failed it twice before.
Bar
Collectively, lawyers or the legal profession; specifically applied to barristers in some countries, but including all lawyers in others.
He was called to the bar, he became a barrister.
Bar
One of an array of bar-shaped symbols that display the level of something, such as wireless signal strength or battery life remaining.
I don't have any bars in the middle of this desert.
Bar
(music) A vertical line across a musical staff dividing written music into sections, typically of equal durational value.
Bar
(music) One of those musical sections.
Bar
(sports) A horizontal pole that must be crossed in the high jump and pole vault.
Bar
(metaphorical) Any level of achievement regarded as a challenge to be overcome.
Bar
The crossbar.
Bar
(backgammon) The central divider between the inner and outer table of a backgammon board, where stones are placed if they are hit.
Bar
An addition to a military medal, on account of a subsequent act.
Bar
A linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water.
Bar
A ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance, especially a formation extending across the mouth of a river or harbor or off a beach, and which may obstruct navigation. (FM 55-501).
Bar
(heraldry) One of the ordinaries in heraldry; a diminutive of a fess.
Bar
A city gate, in some British place names.
Bar
(mining) A drilling or tamping rod.
Bar
(mining) A vein or dike crossing a lode.
Bar
(architecture) A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.
Bar
(farriery) The part of the crust of a horse's hoof which is bent inwards towards the frog at the heel on each side, and extends into the centre of the sole.
Bar
The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.
Bar
(slang) A measure of drugs, typically one ounce.
Bar
A non-SI unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals, approximately equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.
Bar
(transitive) To obstruct the passage of (someone or something).
Our way was barred by a huge rockfall.
Bar
(transitive) To prohibit.
I couldn't get into the nightclub because I had been barred.
Bar
(transitive) To lock or bolt with a bar.
Bar the door
Bar
To imprint or paint with bars, to stripe.
Bar
Except, other than, besides.
He invited everyone to his wedding bar his ex-wife.
Bar
(horse racing) Denotes the minimum odds offered on other horses not mentioned by name.
Leg At Each Corner is at 3/1, Lost My Shirt 5/1, and it's 10/1 bar.
Bar
A piece of wood, metal, or other material, long in proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever and for various other purposes, but especially for a hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door.
Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood.
Bar
An indefinite quantity of some substance, so shaped as to be long in proportion to its breadth and thickness; as, a bar of gold or of lead; a bar of soap.
Bar
Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.
Must I new bars to my own joy create?
Bar
A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation.
Bar
Any railing that divides a room, or office, or hall of assembly, in order to reserve a space for those having special privileges; as, the bar of the House of Commons.
Bar
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.
Bar
Any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of God.
Bar
A barrier or counter, over which liquors and food are passed to customers; hence, the portion of the room behind the counter where liquors for sale are kept.
Bar
An ordinary, like a fess but narrower, occupying only one fifth part of the field.
Bar
A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a bar of light; a bar of color.
Bar
A vertical line across the staff. Bars divide the staff into spaces which represent measures, and are themselves called measures.
Bar
The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.
Bar
A drilling or tamping rod.
Bar
A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.
Bar
To fasten with a bar; as, to bar a door or gate.
Bar
To restrict or confine, as if by a bar; to hinder; to obstruct; to prevent; to prohibit; as, to bar the entrance of evil; distance bars our intercourse; the statute bars my right; the right is barred by time; a release bars the plaintiff's recovery; - sometimes with up.
He barely looked the idea in the face, and hastened to bar it in its dungeon.
Bar
To except; to exclude by exception.
Nay, but I bar to-night: you shall not gauge meBy what we do to-night.
Bar
To cross with one or more stripes or lines.
For the sake of distinguishing the feet more clearly, I have barred them singly.
Bar
A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter;
He drowned his sorrows in whiskey at the bar
Bar
A counter where you can obtain food or drink;
He bought a hot dog and a coke at the bar
Bar
A rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon;
There were bars in the windows to prevent escape
Bar
Musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats;
The orchestra omitted the last twelve bars of the song
Bar
An obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal;
It was an excellent kick but the ball hit the bar
Bar
The act of preventing;
There was no bar against leaving
Money was allocated to study the cause and prevention of influenza
Bar
(meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter;
Unfortunately some writers have used bar for one dyne per square centimeter
Bar
A submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shore;
The boat ran aground on a submerged bar in the river
Bar
The body of individuals qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction;
He was admitted to the bar in New Jersey
Bar
A block of solid substance (such as soap or wax);
A bar of chocolate
Bar
A portable .30 caliber magazine-fed automatic rifle operated by gas pressure; used by United States troops in World War I and in World War II and in the Korean War
Bar
A horizontal rod that serves as a support for gymnasts as they perform exercises
Bar
A heating element in an electric fire;
An electric fire with three bars
Bar
(law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is tried;
Spectators were not allowed past the bar
Bar
Prevent from entering; keep out;
He was barred from membership in the club
Bar
Render unsuitable for passage;
Block the way
Barricade the streets
Stop the busy road
Bar
Expel, as if by official decree;
He was banished from his own country
Bar
Secure with, or as if with, bars;
He barred the door
Common Curiosities
What are common types of bars?
Common types include pubs, cocktail bars, and wine bars.
What pressure does one bar equate to?
One bar is approximately equal to 100,000 pascals.
How do burs aid in plant reproduction?
They attach to animals and are carried to new locations, aiding in seed dispersal.
Where are burs commonly found?
Burs are commonly found in fields and meadows, attaching to animal fur and clothing.
How is the bar used in a legal context?
It refers to the professional body of lawyers or the legal profession in general.
What is the role of a bur in dentistry?
It is used to cut hard tissues like tooth or bone.
How do bars impact social life?
Bars are pivotal in social life as gathering places for social interaction and relaxation.
Are burs dangerous?
While not typically dangerous, they can be irritating to skin and fur.
What kind of music involves bars?
Bars are used to divide music into measures in musical notation.
Can a bar refer to anything in nature?
Not typically; it is more associated with human-made structures or measurements.
What materials are bars made from?
Bars can be made of metal, wood, or synthetic materials depending on their use.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
