: marked by or divided off by bars
especially
: having alternate bands of different color
a barred feather
Examples of barred in a Sentence
He looked out the barred windows of the jail.
a bird with a barred tail
Recent Examples on the Web
There’s broad agreement the native owls are at risk, but the animal rights organizations behind the opposition letter this week say killing barred owls is not the answer.
—
Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
Dogs and buzzards fought over a dead cat in the middle of the street, directly across from an officer who watched the ferocious struggle from a barred window, twirling the ends of his moustache.
—Alexander Sammon, Harper's Magazine, 25 July 2022
At the time of the fire, there were 57 female students in the dormitory, described by police as a flat concrete building measuring about 100 feet by 40 feet, with barred windows.
—Hande Atay Alam, CNN, 23 May 2023
Men wearing hoodies and expectant gazes drifted toward a house with barred windows.
—Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2023
In California, for example, the legislature in 2018 barred felony murder charges against participants in a felony who did not personally kill anyone.
—jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2021
Similarly, Alexey Kortnev, the frontman of the band Neschastny Sluchai, who was tapped to be the festival's host, declined and expressed support for the barred candidates.
—Vladimir Kozlov, Billboard, 7 Aug. 2019
The couple and their daughter had lived with Martinez’s mother in a sea-green brick home with barred windows in a working-class neighborhood of San Martin on the outskirts of the capital, San Salvador.
—Christopher Sherman, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2019
And the manner in which some died — trapped between barred windows and roaring flames — echoes this.
—New York Times, 9 July 2018
Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
Dogs and buzzards fought over a dead cat in the middle of the street, directly across from an officer who watched the ferocious struggle from a barred window, twirling the ends of his moustache.
—Alexander Sammon, Harper's Magazine, 25 July 2022
At the time of the fire, there were 57 female students in the dormitory, described by police as a flat concrete building measuring about 100 feet by 40 feet, with barred windows.
—Hande Atay Alam, CNN, 23 May 2023
Men wearing hoodies and expectant gazes drifted toward a house with barred windows.
—Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2023
In California, for example, the legislature in 2018 barred felony murder charges against participants in a felony who did not personally kill anyone.
—jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2021
Similarly, Alexey Kortnev, the frontman of the band Neschastny Sluchai, who was tapped to be the festival's host, declined and expressed support for the barred candidates.
—Vladimir Kozlov, Billboard, 7 Aug. 2019
The couple and their daughter had lived with Martinez’s mother in a sea-green brick home with barred windows in a working-class neighborhood of San Martin on the outskirts of the capital, San Salvador.
—Christopher Sherman, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2019
And the manner in which some died — trapped between barred windows and roaring flames — echoes this.
—New York Times, 9 July 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barred.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of barred was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing barred
Dictionary Entries Near barred
Cite this Entry
“Barred.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barred. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
barred
adjective
: having alternate bands of different color
More from Merriam-Webster on barred
Nglish: Translation of barred for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of barred for Arabic Speakers
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