Bar vs. Debar

Bar vs. Debar Bar vs. Debar Bar vs. Debar By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, Could you perhaps elaborate on the use of the verbs â€Å"bar† and â€Å"debar† in the sense of â€Å"exclude from†? The sources available to me are not clear in this instance. Both verbs are figurative expressions that derive from a use of the object called a bar: â€Å"a straight piece of wood, metal, or other rigid material, long in proportion to its thickness.† Bars are used to limit the ability of people or animals to enter or leave an area. As a verb, bar has these uses: 1. to make a place secure by placing bars or other obstacles across openings Coinneachs mother  barred the opening with  her stick and waited. When these parties were out of the house, he locked up the doors, and  barred the windows  by nailing boards and slats across them to prevent entry in that direction. The first portion of the descent is through the narrow gorge of La Chaine, so called from a chain having been stretched across it by the Swiss  to bar the entrance.   2. to forbid entrance to a place (figuratively) A mayor in Florida says he is barring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from his city after the businessmans latest idea to prevent Muslims from entering the United States. Lawyer attempts to bar journalists from court proceedings 3. to prevent an action, activity, or event While there are many reasons to bar a person from leaving Malaysia, the Immigration Department can only do so for people having invalid passports. Police dogs barred from crowd-control duty in St. Louis following review of Ferguson protests Debar entered English from a French verb meaning â€Å"to unbar, to remove bars.† In modern English usage, however, debar is used with the following meanings: 1. to exclude or shut out from a place or condition. 2. to set a bar or prohibition against; to prohibit, prevent, forbid. Here are recent examples of the use of debar: Bengal is one of the eight  teams debarred from  FIFAS Boys (U-13) Football Festival for fielding over-aged players in the team. The new rule, that a student might participate in only two of the three seasons for athletics, at once  debarred  Captain Randall, of the baseball  team. A total of 230 commerce  students- 75 each from the first-, second- and third-year- of N M College have been  debarred  from appearing for their semester-end examinations that start this weekend for failing to fulfill the minimum attendance criterion. Many writers more or less openly announce their desire to see motor-cars abolished and debarred  from the  use  of the highway altogether. (From a 1902 source) Well into the twentieth century  women  were  debarred  from sitting on juries. Both verbs are used to mean exclude or prevent, but to bar is far more common than to debar. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a RowStarting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.