barring

barring
bar, barring
1. Bar, used as a slightly formal preposition meaning ‘except’, has been in use since the 18c. In current use it is often followed by a number (or none):

• My sister-in-law for whom I probably care more than I care for anyone in the world bar one other —Penelope Lively, 1983

• The best detection expert I know, bar none —Ruth Rendell, 1983.

It is also used in the idiom all over bar the shouting, when an outcome is all but assured; and in giving the odds in racing (e.g. 33-1 bar the rest).
2. Barring, which is attested much earlier (15c), is also still used in the general meanings, and collocates regularly with words expressing misfortune or reversal:

• Barring accidents, we should win another Grand Slam —Rugby World and Post, 1991

• The young working-class man in industrial employment could expect his income to reach its peak in early manhood and stay constant thereafter, barring disasters such as unemployment. —J. Weeks, 1992.

Notable among the few positive collocates of barring are miracles and similar manifestations:

• Barring a miracle or divine intervention, Sligo Rovers' season will be bereft of cups or league accolades —Sligo Weekender, 2004.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • barring — late 14c., act of fastening with a bar, see BAR (Cf. bar) (1). Meaning exclusion is from 1630s. As a preposition, excepting, excluding, it is from late 15c. Schoolhouse prank of barring out the teacher was in use before 1728 …   Etymology dictionary

  • barring — [bär′iŋ] prep. unless there should be; excepting [barring rain, we leave tonight] …   English World dictionary

  • barring — ar ring n. the act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto. Syn: blackball. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Barring — can refer to: *the act of adding bars to a piece of music. *adding strips of wood to a string instrument to reinforce it, as in the bass bar and ribs. *a left hand technique used by string players, see Barre chord …   Wikipedia

  • Barring — Barring, Decksbalkengerüst zwischen Fock und Großmast zur Ausstellung größerer Boote und zur Aufbewahrung von Rundhölzern. Auf kleinem Schiff ist sie zuweilen mit dem Barringsdeck gedeckt …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Barring — Barring, auf Schiffen Träger oder Balken, auf denen die Reserverundhölzer und Spieren verstaut werden; auch werden auf denselben in Klampen häufig Beiboote aufgeteilt. T. Schwarz …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • barring — index deterrent, estoppel, save Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • barring — [adj] except for apart from, aside from, bar, but for, discounting, excepting, excluding, other than, outside of, save for, short of, with the exception of; concept 25 …   New thesaurus

  • barring — ► PREPOSITION ▪ except for; if not for …   English terms dictionary

  • Barring — Mit Barring bezeichnet man ein Gerüst auf dem Oberdeck seetüchtiger Segelschiffe zwischen Fockmast und Großmast. Die Barring diente zur Aufbewahrung von Stangen und Rahen (Rundhölzern) sowie zum Aufstellen der schweren Beiboote, wie Barkassen und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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