Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A handrail fixed to a wall, as in a dance studio, used by ballet dancers as a support in certain exercises.
  • noun A fingering technique used with fretted stringed instruments in which a finger is laid across the fretboard to stop all or several strings at once.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun ballet A handrail fixed to a wall used for ballet exercises.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *barra, of Gaulish origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French barre.

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Examples

  • The term barre chord simply refers to guitar chords that require the fretting multiple strings with a single finger.

    xml's Blinklist.com 2008

  • The term barre chord simply refers to guitar chords that require the fretting multiple strings with a single finger.

    xml's Blinklist.com 2008

  • “The bar there is known as a barre,” she said and spelled it out.

    Butterfly V.C. Andrews 1998

  • “The bar there is known as a barre,” she said and spelled it out.

    Butterfly V.C. Andrews 1998

  • The time she spent dancing or working at the barre was the only time she felt truly alive.

    Dance Of Desire Lisa, Leonore 1982

  • New mom Rosie Wiedenmayer of Denver did Pilates throughout her three pregnancies and calls barre fitness a different workout.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2009

  • Her boasted "barre," (barrier,) from which her name, Barrewick, is derived, has never been able to save her effectually, either from her enemies of land or water.

    Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 17 John Mackay Wilson 1819

  • A photo captures Dean grinding at the barre, looking none too comfortable, but not too shabby, either, in terms of his placement.

    Debra Levine: James Dean Broods... and Dances Debra Levine 2011

  • A photo captures Dean grinding at the barre, looking none too comfortable, but not too shabby, either, in terms of his placement.

    Debra Levine: James Dean Broods... and Dances Debra Levine 2011

  • For those not accustomed to barre work here is the quick and easy: it started as an exercise regimen to help rehab dancers.

    The Barre « Denmeister 2010

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