See Also: barrier(dictionary)
barrier(medicine)
barrier(dictionary)
Barrier - Bingo(gambling)
thermal barrier(medicine)
Barrier options(money)
Trade Barrier(money)
Barrier options(finance)
barrier method(dictionary)
sound barrier(encyclopedia)

barrier (iou)



barrier noun & verb. LME.
[Anglo-Norman barrere, Old French barriere from Proto-Romance formed as BAR noun1: see -IER.]
A. noun.
A palisade or stockade erected to defend a gate, passage, etc.; a fortification commanding an entrance. Now chiefly Hist. LME.
gen. Any fence or railing barring advance or preventing access; a physical obstacle placed in the way. LME.
vapour barrier: see VAPOUR noun.
b. The starting-gate of a racecourse. E17.
Sherwood Anderson Then when the barrier goes up he is off like his name, Sunstreak.
c. The point of access to a railway platform at which tickets must be shown. M20.
In pl. The martial exercise of sword-fighting across the central railing dividing a tournament ground (freq. in to fight at barriers). Also, the palisades enclosing a tourney ground, the lists. obsolete exc. Hist. L15.
Any physical, esp. natural, obstacle which prevents access or separates; spec. the mass of ice fringing the Antarctic coast. E18.
ISOLATING barrier.
Anything immaterial that obstructs, prevents communication, or separates. E18.
sonic barrier, sound barrier, thermal barrier, etc.
b. Physics. A state, region, or level of high potential energy which must be surmounted (or tunnelled through) for a given physical change to occur. E20.
SCHOTTKY barrier.
J. A. Wheeler Odd nuclei have a higher barrier against fission than corresponding even nuclei.
Comb.: barrier cream a cream to protect the skin from damage, infection, etc.; barrier method a method of contraception using a device or preparation which prevents live sperm from reaching an ovum; barrier reef a coral reef separated by a broad deep channel from the adjacent land.
b. verb trans. Close or shut with a barrier. M18.