Bar vs. Pole — What's the Difference?

An obstacle made of metal or wood, often horizontal, used in high jump.

A piece of equipment used in pole vaulting.

A long piece of rigid metal used in construction.

A long cylindrical piece of wood or metal used to support structures.

A unit of pressure in scientific contexts.

A unit of length, also known as a rod.

A rod used to serve drinks in establishments.

An electrical conductor in overhead power lines.

Legal profession or realm.

A geographic point on the Earth's surface.

A long rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, typically used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon

Either extremity of an axis through a sphere.

A counter in a pub, restaurant, or cafe across which drinks or refreshments are served

Either of the regions contiguous to the extremities of the earth's rotational axis, the North Pole or the South Pole.

A barrier or restriction to an action or advance

(Physics) See magnetic pole.

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

(Electricity) Either of two oppositely charged terminals, as in an electric cell or battery.

A partition in a court room, now usually notional, beyond which most people may not pass and at which an accused person stands

(Astronomy) See celestial pole.

The profession of barrister

Either extremity of the main axis of a nucleus, cell, or organism.

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

Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.

Fasten (something, especially a door or window) with a bar or bars

The point on a nerve cell where a process originates.

Prevent or prohibit (someone) from doing something or from going somewhere

Either of two antithetical ideas, propensities, forces, or positions.

Mark (something) with bars or stripes

A fixed point of reference.

Except for

The origin in a polar coordinate system; the vertex of a polar angle.

A relatively long, straight, rigid piece of solid material used as a fastener, support, barrier, or structural or mechanical member.

A point in the complex plane at which a given function is not defined.

A solid oblong block of a substance or combination of ingredients, such as soap or candy.

A long, relatively slender, generally rounded piece of wood or other material.

A usually rectangular slice of any of various flat baked confections that are typically dense in texture.

The long tapering wooden shaft extending up from the front axle of a vehicle to the collars of the animals drawing it; a tongue.

A rectangular block of a precious metal.

See rod.

See horizontal bar.

A unit of area equal to a square rod.

A horizontal rod that marks the height to be cleared in high jumping or pole vaulting.

(Sports) The inside position on the starting line of a racetrack

A standard, expectation, or degree of requirement

A native or inhabitant of Poland.

Something that impedes or prevents action or progress

A person of Polish ancestry.

A ridge, as of sand or gravel, on a shore or streambed, that is formed by the action of tides or currents.

To propel with a pole

A narrow marking, as a stripe or band.

To propel (oneself) or make (one's way) by the use of ski poles

A narrow metal or embroidered strip worn on a military uniform indicating rank or service.

To support (plants) with a pole.

Chiefly British A small insignia worn on a military decoration indicating that it has been awarded an additional time.

To strike, poke, or stir with a pole.

(Heraldry) A pair of horizontal parallel lines drawn across a shield.

To propel a boat or raft with a pole.

The nullification, defeat, or prevention of a claim or action.

To use ski poles to maintain or gain speed.

The process by which nullification, defeat, or prevention is achieved.

Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.

The railing in a courtroom separating the participants in a legal proceeding from the spectators.

A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage.

A court or courtroom.

(angling) A type of basic fishing rod.

Attorneys considered as a group. Used with the.

A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.

The profession of law. Used with the.

A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.

A vertical line drawn through a staff to mark off a measure.

(historical) A unit of length, equal to a rod (4 chain or 2 yards).

A measure.

(motor racing) Pole position.

Variant of barre.

A gun.

A counter at which drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, and sometimes food, are served.

Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.

An establishment or room having such a counter.

A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south).

A unit of pressure equal to one million (106) dynes per square centimeter.

(geometry) A fixed point relative to other points or lines.

To fasten securely with a long, straight, rigid piece of material

(electricity) A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves.

To shut in or confine

(complex analysis) For a meromorphic function $f(z)$, any point $a$ for which $f(z)\; \backslash rightarrow\; \backslash infty$ as $z\; \backslash rightarrow\; a$.

To obstruct or impede; block

(obsolete) The firmament; the sky.

To keep out; exclude

Either of the states that characterize a bipolar disorder.

To prohibit or prevent (someone) from doing something

To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole.

To prohibit (an action)

To identify something quite precisely using a telescope.

(Law) To nullify, defeat, or prevent (a claim or action).

(transitive) To furnish with poles for support.

To rule out; except

(transitive) To convey on poles.

To mark with stripes or bands.

(transitive) To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.

Chiefly British Except for; excluding

To strike (the ball) very hard.

A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length.

(transitive) To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles.

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.

A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.

A cuboid piece of any solid commodity.

A long, slender piece of wood; a tall, slender piece of timber; the stem of a small tree whose branches have been removed; as, specifically: (a) A carriage pole, a wooden bar extending from the front axle of a carriage between the wheel horses, by which the carriage is guided and held back. (b) A flag pole, a pole on which a flag is supported. (c) A Maypole. See Maypole. (d) A barber's pole, a pole painted in stripes, used as a sign by barbers and hairdressers. (e) A pole on which climbing beans, hops, or other vines, are trained.

A broad shaft, band, or stripe.

A measuring stick; also, a measure of length equal to 5 yards, or a square measure equal to 30 square yards; a rod; a perch.

A long, narrow drawn or printed rectangle, cuboid or cylinder, especially as used in a bar code or a bar chart.

Either extremity of an axis of a sphere; especially, one of the extremities of the earth's axis; as, the north pole.

(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.

A point upon the surface of a sphere equally distant from every part of the circumference of a great circle; or the point in which a diameter of the sphere perpendicular to the plane of such circle meets the surface. Such a point is called the pole of that circle; as, the pole of the horizon; the pole of the ecliptic; the pole of a given meridian.

(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.

One of the opposite or contrasted parts or directions in which a polar force is manifested; a point of maximum intensity of a force which has two such points, or which has polarity; as, the poles of a magnet; the north pole of a needle.

(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).

The firmament; the sky.

A business selling alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises, or the premises themselves; a public house.

To furnish with poles for support; as, to pole beans or hops.

The counter of such premises.

To convey on poles; as, to pole hay into a barn.

A counter, or simply a cabinet, from which alcoholic drinks are served in a private house or a hotel room.

To impel by a pole or poles, as a boat.

, juice bar, etc.}} Premises or a counter serving any type of beverage.

To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.

An establishment where alcohol and sometimes other refreshments are served.

A long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic

An informal establishment selling food to be consumed on the premises.

A native or inhabitant of Poland

An establishment offering cosmetic services.

One of two divergent or mutually exclusive opinions;

An official order or pronouncement that prohibits some activity.

A linear measure of 16.5 feet

Anything that obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.

A square rod of land

A metasyntactic variable representing an unspecified entity, often the second in a series, following foo.

One of two points of intersection of the Earth's axis and the celestial sphere

A dividing line (physical or notional) in the chamber of a legislature beyond which only members and officials may pass.

One of two antipodal points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface

The railing surrounding the part of a courtroom in which the judges, lawyers, defendants and witnesses stay.

A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves

The bar exam, the legal licensing exam.

A long fiberglass sports implement used for pole vaulting

Collectively, lawyers or the legal profession; specifically applied to barristers in some countries, but including all lawyers in others.

One of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated

One of an array of bar-shaped symbols that display the level of something, such as wireless signal strength or battery life remaining.

Propel with a pole;

(music) A vertical line across a musical staff dividing written music into sections, typically of equal durational value.

Support on poles;

(music) One of those musical sections.

Deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole

(sports) A horizontal pole that must be crossed in the high jump and pole vault.

(metaphorical) Any level of achievement regarded as a challenge to be overcome.

The crossbar.

(backgammon) The central divider between the inner and outer table of a backgammon board, where stones are placed if they are hit.

An addition to a military medal, on account of a subsequent act.

A linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water.

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).

(heraldry) One of the ordinaries in heraldry; a diminutive of a fess.

A city gate, in some British place names.

(mining) A drilling or tamping rod.

(mining) A vein or dike crossing a lode.

(architecture) A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.

(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.

The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.

(slang) A measure of drugs, typically one ounce.

A non-SI unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals, approximately equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.

(transitive) To obstruct the passage of (someone or something).

(transitive) To prohibit.

(transitive) To lock or bolt with a bar.

To imprint or paint with bars, to stripe.

Except, other than, besides.

(horse racing) Denotes the minimum odds offered on other horses not mentioned by name.

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.

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.

Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.

A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation.

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.

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.

Any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of God.

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.

An ordinary, like a fess but narrower, occupying only one fifth part of the field.

A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a bar of light; a bar of color.

A vertical line across the staff. Bars divide the staff into spaces which represent measures, and are themselves called measures.

The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.

A drilling or tamping rod.

A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town.

To fasten with a bar; as, to bar a door or gate.

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.

To except; to exclude by exception.

To cross with one or more stripes or lines.

A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter;

A counter where you can obtain food or drink;

A rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon;

Musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats;

An obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal;

The act of preventing;

(meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter;

A submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shore;

The body of individuals qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction;

A block of solid substance (such as soap or wax);

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

A horizontal rod that serves as a support for gymnasts as they perform exercises

A heating element in an electric fire;

(law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is tried;

Prevent from entering; keep out;

Render unsuitable for passage;

Expel, as if by official decree;

Secure with, or as if with, bars;

Bars are generally rigid and sturdy, not designed for flexibility.

Bars are used for reinforcement in construction, providing tensile strength, whereas poles are used to support structures like telephone lines.

Bars are typically made from metals like steel or iron.

Poles are commonly used for supporting utilities like electrical lines or for sports like pole vaulting.

A bar is a unit of pressure, not equivalent but similar to atmospheric pressure.

In gymnastics, parallel bars and horizontal bars are used.

Yes, "bar" can refer to the realm of the legal profession.

Sports that use poles include pole vaulting and pole dancing.

Poles are used in activities like hiking and skiing for support and balance.

Yes, poles can also be made from materials like fiberglass and metal.